Which wartime governing body adopted the Declaration of Independence, the document at the center of America250?

The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, the document at the center of America250.

The congress met in Philadelphia beginning in May 1775, after armed conflict had broken out between colonial forces and Great Britain. It acted as a revolutionary government, directing military operations, managing diplomacy, and issuing financial instruments to support the war.

On July 2, 1776, Congress passed a resolution declaring independence. It then debated and edited the Declaration of Independence before adopting the final document on July 4. The text explained the political reasons for separation from Britain.

The First Continental Congress had met in 1774 to coordinate colonial resistance but did not declare independence. The Constitutional Convention met later, in 1787, to draft a new federal governing framework. Those bodies are separate from the Second Continental Congress.