Passage of the Lee Resolution
- When
- July 2, 1776
- Where
- Philadelphia, seat of the Second Continental Congress
On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress passed the Lee Resolution, asserting the colonies were free and independent states.
The Lee Resolution, also known as 'The Resolution for Independence', was formally passed by the Second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776, resolving that the Thirteen Colonies—then referred to as the United Colonies—were 'free and independent States' and separate from the British Empire. Lee's full resolution had three parts, which Congress had first considered on June 7, 1776. The Virginia Convention had instructed its delegates on May 15, 1776, to propose such a declaration.
Sources
- Lee Resolution Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-31
- United States Declaration of Independence Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-25
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.