Events Leading to the Adoption of the Declaration of Independence

The following is a brief chronicle of events leading to the official adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

May 1775 - The Second Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia. A "petition for redress of grievances," sent to King George III of England by the First Continental Congress in 1774, remains unanswered.

June-July 1775 - Congress establishes the Continental Army, a first national monetary currency and a post office to serve the "United Colonies."

August 1775 - King George declares his American subjects to be "engaged in open and avowed rebellion" against the Crown. The English Parliament passes the American Prohibitory Act, declaring all American sea-going vessels and their cargo the property of England.

January 1776 - Colonists by the thousands buy copies of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense," stating the cause of American Independence.

March 1776 - Congress passes the Privateering Resolution, allowing colonists to arm vessels in order to "cruize [sic] on the enemies of this United Colonies."

April 6, 1776 - American seaports were opened to trade and cargo from other nations for the first time.

May 1776 - Germany, through a treaty negotiated with King George, agrees to hire mercenary soldiers to help put down any potential uprising by American colonists.

May 10, 1776 - Congress passes the "Resolution for the Formation of Local Governments," Eight colonies agreed to support American Independence.

May 15, 1776 - The Virginia Convention passes a resolution that "the delegates appointed to represent this colony in General Congress be instructed to propose to that respectable body to declare the United Colonies free and independent states."

June 7, 1776 - Richard Henry Lee, Virginia's delegate to the Continental Congress, presents the Lee Resolution reading in part: "Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."

June 11, 1776 - Congress postpones consideration of the Lee Resolution appoints the "Committee of Five" to draft a final statement declaring the case for America's Independence. The Committee of Five is composed of : John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert R. Livingston of New York and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia.

July 2, 1776 - By the votes of 12 of the 13 colonies, with New York not voting, Congress adopts the Lee Resolution and begins consideration of the Declaration of Independence, written by the committee of Five.

July 4, 1776 - Late in the afternoon, church bells ring out over Philadelphia heralding the final adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

August 2, 1776 - The delegates of the Continental Congress sign the clearly printed or "engrossed" version of the Declaration.

Today - Faded but still legible, the Declaration of Independence, along with the Constitution and Bill of Rights, is enshrined for public display in the rotunda of the National Archives and Records Building in Washington, D.C. The priceless documents are stored in an underground vault at night and are constantly monitored for any degradation in their condition.