Which Virginia delegate proposed the Lee Resolution for independence in 1776?

Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee proposed the Lee Resolution for independence in 1776.

Lee introduced the resolution in the Second Continental Congress on June 7, 1776, after receiving instructions from the Virginia Convention. The proposal declared that the United Colonies should become “free and independent States” and end their political connection with Great Britain.

Congress delayed the independence vote for several weeks while delegates sought authorization from their colonies. On July 2, Congress approved the resolution’s independence clause. The Declaration of Independence followed on July 4 as a formal explanation of the decision.

Richard Henry Lee was not the principal author of the Declaration. Congress appointed the Committee of Five, and Thomas Jefferson wrote the document’s initial draft. The Lee Resolution and the Declaration are therefore related but distinct: one made the political decision, while the other publicly justified it.