The Colonies Declare Independence
Thirteen colonies announce they are free and independent states
Quick facts
- Adopted
- July 4, 1776
- Principal author
- Thomas Jefferson
- Body
- The Second Continental Congress
- Core claim
- The colonies are free and independent states
What happened
After a decade of escalating disputes over taxation and authority, and more than a year of open fighting, the Second Continental Congress voted for independence and, on July 4, 1776, adopted the Declaration of Independence. The text was drafted largely by Thomas Jefferson, then revised by a committee and by Congress. It set out a philosophy of government resting on the idea that all men are created equal and hold unalienable rights, listed grievances against King George III, and declared that the thirteen united colonies were, and of right ought to be, free and independent states, absolved of allegiance to the British Crown. The Revolutionary War would grind on until 1783, but the political break with Britain was now formal and public.
Why it matters
The Declaration is the founding statement of the United States as a nation and the source of its most quoted lines about equality and rights, principles that later Americans, from abolitionists to the civil rights movement, would hold the country to. The gap between its promise that all men are created equal and the reality of slavery and exclusion has driven American reform arguments ever since.
How we know
The signed Declaration of Independence survives in the National Archives, and the drafting process is documented in the records of the Continental Congress and in Jefferson's own later recollections.
Sources
- National Archives. Declaration of Independence (1776) · Primary source (author-declared)archives.gov · Cited as a "primary" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- HISTORY. Declaration of Independence · Reputable sourcehistory.com · The domain "history.com" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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Related timelines
- The American Revolution → · The Declaration came in the middle of the Revolutionary War; see the American Revolution timeline for the causes, battles, and 1783 peace that won the independence it announced.