Who proposed the independence resolution that became known as the Lee Resolution?

Richard Henry Lee proposed the independence resolution that became known as the Lee Resolution.

Lee was a Virginia delegate to the Second Continental Congress. On June 7, 1776, he introduced a proposal declaring that the United Colonies should be free and independent states and that their political connection with Great Britain should end.

Congress delayed the vote while delegates sought authorization and support from the colonies. The independence portion finally passed on July 2, 1776. The resolution’s other proposals concerned foreign alliances and a plan of confederation, which Congress considered separately.

Thomas Jefferson is often associated with independence because he drafted much of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston served on the committee that prepared the explanatory document, but Lee introduced the underlying resolution.