Which Virginia delegate introduced the Lee Resolution calling for American independence?

Richard Henry Lee, a Virginia delegate, introduced the Lee Resolution calling for American independence.

Lee presented the motion to the Second Continental Congress on June 7, 1776, after Virginia’s Fifth Convention instructed its congressional delegates to propose independence. The resolution declared that the United Colonies should be “free and independent States,” ending their political connection with Great Britain.

Congress did not immediately approve the proposal. Delegates postponed the vote while several colonies sought authorization to support independence. During that delay, Congress appointed the Committee of Five to prepare a declaration explaining the case for separation; Thomas Jefferson drafted most of that document, with help from John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.

The first part of Lee’s Resolution passed on July 2, 1776. The Declaration of Independence was approved two days later, on July 4, which is why the resolution and the declaration are related but not identical. John Adams seconded Lee’s motion, a detail that can cause confusion about who actually introduced it.