The Declaration of Independence, the founding document of the United States, was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. On July 4, 1776, during the American Revolution, the Second Continental Congress adopted the famed document drafted by Thomas Jefferson that pronounced the independence of the thirteen states, previously the Thirteen Colonies. The day on which the Declaration of Independence was adopted has always been celebrated in the United States as a great national holiday—the Fourth of July, or Independence Day. The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America W hen, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind On July 4, 1776, after two days of debate and editing, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence submitted by the Committee of Five. The Declaration of Independence is made up of three major parts: the preamble; the body, and the conclusion. The Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. This guide provides access to digital materials at the Library of Congress, links to related external websites, and a print bibliography. July 4, 1776: Declaration of Independence Adopted & Printed Late in the morning of July 4, the Declaration was officially adopted, and the "Committee of Five" took the manuscript copy of the document to John Dunlap, official printer to the Congress. The present shrine provides an imposing home. The priceless documents stand at the center of a semicircle of display cases showing other important records of the growth of the United States. The Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights stand slightly elevated, under armed guard, in their bronze and marble shrine. The Lee Resolution contained three parts: a declaration of independence, a call to form foreign alliances, and of a plan of confederation. On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the first part of Lee’s resolution, leading to the issuance of the Declaration of Independence and the creation of the United States of America. The Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence—written largely by Jefferson—in Philadelphia on July 4, a date now celebrated as the birth of American independence. Declaration of Independence, 17761 IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind The Declaration of Independence is the founding document of the United States of America. Adopted by Congress on 4 July 1776, it explains why the United States decided to claim independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution. When America got Independence and from Whom? America got its independence on July 4, 1776, through the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. This formally established the United States of Declaring Independence On July 2, 1776, Congress voted to declare independence. Two days later, it ratified the text of the Declaration. John Dunlap, official printer to Congress, worked through the night to set the Declaration in type and print approximately 200 copies. On the 25th of June, a declaration of the deputies of Pennsylvania, met in provincial conference, expressing their willingness to concur in a vote declaring the United Colonies free and inde-pendent States, was laid before Congress and read. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the Second Continental Congress, who convened at Pennsylvania State House, later renamed Independence Hall, in the colonial capital of Philadelphia. These delegates became known as the nation's Founding Fathers. On July 4, 1776, the United States officially declared its independence from the British Empire when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration was authored by a “Committee of Five”—John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman—with Jefferson as the main drafter. But Jefferson himself later admitted The Declaration was a formal explanation of why the Continental Congress voted to declare American independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. It was adopted by the Congress during the American Revolutionary War, which commenced in April 1775 with the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
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