When the full Continental Congress first voted on the Declaration of Independence, it

The Continental Congress was a group of delegates who worked together to act on behalf of the North American colonies in the 1770s. Beginning with the Sugar Act in 1764, the British Parliament passed a series of laws that were unpopular with many colonists in the North American colonies. The colonists came together in what came to be known as the Committees of Correspondence to discuss their rights and how to respond to the acts that they believed trampled on those rights. These committees began to work together to forge a cooperative, united approach.

In 1774, matters came to a head after Britain passed the Coercive Acts, a series of acts that the colonists called the Intolerable Acts. These acts, which included the closing of the port of Boston and establishing British military rule in Massachusetts, were intended to punish the colony of Massachusetts for the infamous Boston Tea Party and to force that colony to pay for the lost tea. Britain also hoped to isolate the rebels in Massachusetts and dissuade other colonies from similar acts of defiance. In response, the Committees of Congress called for a meeting of delegates. On September 5, 1774, 56 delegates met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This First Continental Congress represented all the 13 colonies, except Georgia. It included some of the finest leaders in the land, including George Washington, Patrick Henry, John Adams, Samuel Adams, and John Jay. The group elected Peyton Randolph of Virginia as its president.

The group met in secret to discuss how the colonies should respond to what they perceived to be an imposition of their rights. At this meeting, the Congress adopted a Declaration of Rights and Grievances. They declared that their rights as Englishmen included life, liberty, property, and trial by jury. The declaration denounced taxation without representation. The Congress called for a boycott of British goods and petitioned King George III for a remedy for their grievances. Before departing, the Congress agreed to meet again on May 10, 1775.

By the time this Second Continental Congress convened, hostilities had already broken out between British troops and its American colonists at Lexington, Massachusetts, and Concord, Massachusetts. The Congress agreed to a coordinated military response and appointed George Washington as commander of the American militia. On July 4, 1776, the delegates cut all remaining ties with England by unanimously approving the Declaration of Independence.

For the duration of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress served as a provisional, or temporary, government of the American colonies. The Congress drafted the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, which went into effect in 1781. Under this government, the Continental Congress gave way to the Confederation Congress, which included many of the same delegates. This group continued to provide leadership to the new country until a new Congress, elected under the new Constitution passed in 1789, went into effect.

Declaration of Independence

On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall), approved the Declaration of Independence, severing the colonies' ties to the British Crown.

Library of Congress Web Site | External Web Sites | Selected Bibliography

Digital Collections

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875

This collection contains congressional publications from 1774 to 1875, including debates, bills, laws, and journals.

The text of the Declaration of Independence appears in the Journals of the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.

Additional references to the Declaration of Independence can be found in the Journals of the Continental Congress on the following dates in 1776:

• June 7 - Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution urging Congress to declare independence from Great Britain.
• June 11 - Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston were appointed to a committee to draft a declaration of independence.
• June 28 - A fair copy of the committee draft of the Declaration of Independence was read in Congress.
• July 1-4 - Congress debated and revised the Declaration of Independence.
• July 2 - Congress declared independence by adopting the Lee Resolution.
• July 4 - Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.
• July 4 - Congress ordered that the Declaration of Independence be printed (Dunlap Broadsides).
• July 19 - Congress ordered the Declaration of Independence engrossed (officially inscribed) and signed by members.
• August 2 - The engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence was signed by most of the delegates. Elbridge Gerry, Oliver Wolcott, Lewis Morris, Thomas McKean, and Matthew Thornton all signed on a later date.

A printed copy of the final version of the Declaration of Independence is available in the United States Statutes at Large and Elliot's Debates.

Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774 to 1789

This collection contains 277 documents relating to the work of Congress and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution.

• In Congress, July 4, 1776. The unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America. In 1777, Mary Katherine Goddard printed the first official copy of the Declaration of Independence with the names of the signers attached.

George Washington Papers

The complete George Washington Papers collection from the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress consists of approximately 65,000 documents.

• George Washington, July 9, 1776, General Orders. Washington announced the Declaration of Independence to the Continental Army in New York.
• Continental Congress, July 4, 1776, Printed Declaration of Independence .

Search this collection to find additional documents related to the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution.

James Madison Papers, 1723 to 1859

James Madison (1751-1836) is one of 23 presidents whose papers are held in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. The Madison Papers consist of approximately 12,000 items.

• James Madison, June 7, 1776. John C. Payne's copy of Thomas Jefferson notes on debates of the Continental Congress. These notes include Jefferson's copy of the Declaration of Independence as amended by Congress.

Printed Ephemera: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera

The Printed Ephemera collection comprises 28,000 primary-source items dating from the seventeenth century to the present and encompasses key events and eras in American history.

• In Congress, July 4, 1776, a declaration by the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled (Dunlap Declaration of Independence).
• Unanimous Declaration of Independence, passed in the United States Congress, by the representatives of the American people. [United States : s.n., 1823]
  

Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1606 to 1827

The complete Thomas Jefferson Papers from the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress consists of approximately 27,000 documents.

• Continental Congress, June 7, 1776, Notes on Debates and Proceedings on Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation.
• Thomas Jefferson, June 1776, Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence.
• Thomas Jefferson, June 1776, Draft Fragment of Declaration of Independence.
• Thomas Jefferson, et al, July 4, 1776, Copy of Declaration of Independence.

Search this collection to find additional papers related to the Declaration of Independence.

Words and Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division's First 100 Years

In honor of the Manuscript Division's centennial, its staff has selected for online display approximately ninety representative documents spanning from the fifteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.

• Enclosure, John Hancock to George Washington concerning the reading of the Declaration of Independence to the Revolutionary army, 4 July 1776.

America's Library

Meet Amazing Americans: Thomas Jefferson - The Declaration of Independence

Exhibitions

American Treasures of the Library of Congress - Declaration of Independence

This online exhibition contains Jefferson's rough draft of the Declaration, with emendations by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. Also includes a fragment of an early draft of the document, a letter to Roger Weightman with Jefferson's reflections on the Declaration, Jefferson's draft of the Virginia Constitution, and an excerpt from Henry Home, Lord Kames' Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Religion regarding the pursuit of happiness.

Creating the United States

This online exhibition offers insights into how the nation’s founding documents were forged and the role that imagination and vision played in the unprecedented creative act of forming a self–governing country. The exhibition includes a section on creating the Declaration of Independence.

Declaring Independence: Drafting the Documents

This exhibition includes a timeline of events related to the Declaration and a detailed essay on the drafting of the documents. Also contains images of the Dunlap Broadside and a number of prints portraying the debating and signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Jefferson

This exhibition focuses on the extraordinary legacy of Thomas Jefferson--founding father, farmer, architect, inventor, slaveholder, book collector, scholar, diplomat, and the third president of the United States. The exhibition contains a section on the Declaration of Independence that includes original manuscripts and prints.

Today in History

April 12, 1776

The Provincial Congress of North Carolina authorized its delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence.

July 4, 1776

The Declaration of Independence was enacted on July 4, 1776.

Webcasts

Publishing the Declaration of Independence

Robin Shields discusses the American Declaration of Independence, focusing on its distribution through early American newspapers. Fifteen newspapers containing the Declaration from the Library of Congress' Serial and Government Publication Division's American newspaper collection are profiled. Shields highlights the importance of newspapers for the success of the American Revolution and the influence newspaper printers had on the independence movement.

Albert H. Small Declaration of Independence Collection, University of Virginia Library

America's Founding Documents: Declaration of Independence, National Archives and Records Administration

The Coming of the American Revolution: Declarations of Independence, Massachusetts Historical Society

Declaration of Independence, Monticello and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation

Declaration of Independence, USHistory.org

Declaration Resources Project from Harvard University

DocsTeach: Prequel to Independence, National Archives and Records Administration

Our Documents, Declaration of Independence, National Archives and Records Administration

Signers of the Declaration: Historic Places Commemorating the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, National Park Service

Selected Bibliography

Allen, Danielle. Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality. New York: Liveright Publishing, 2014. [Catalog Record]

Armitage, David. The Declaration of Independence: A Global History. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2007. [Catalog Record]

Boyd, Julian P. The Declaration of Independence: The Evolution of the Text. Rev. ed. Charlottesville: International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello in association with the Library of Congress, 1999. [Catalog Record]

Dupont, Christian Y., and Peter S. Onuf, eds. Declaring Independence: The Origin and Influence of America’s Founding Document. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Library, 2008. [Catalog Record]

Ferris, Robert G., ed. Signers of the Declaration: Historic Places Commemorating the Signing of the Declaration of Independence. Rev. ed. Washington, D.C.: United States Department. of the Interior, National Park Service, 1975. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]

Friedenwald, Herbert. The Declaration of Independence: An Interpretation and an Analysis. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1904. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]

Gerber, Scott Douglas, ed. The Declaration of Independence: Origins and Impact. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2002. [Catalog Record]

Goff , Frederick R. The John Dunlap Broadside: The First Printing of the Declaration of Independence. Washington: Library of Congress, 1976. [Catalog Record]

Maier, Pauline. American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence. New York: Knopf, 1997. [Catalog Record]

Malone, Dumas. The Story of the Declaration of Independence. New York: Oxford University Press, 1975. [Catalog Record]

Munves, James. Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of independence: The Writing and Editing of the Document that Marked the Birth of the United States of America. New York : Scribner, 1978. [Catalog Record]

Shain, Barry Alan, ed. The Declaration of Independence in Historical Context: American State Papers, Petitions, Proclamations, and Letters of the Delegates to the First National Congress. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014. [Catalog Record]

Tsesis, Alexander. For Liberty and Equality: The Life and Times of the Declaration of Independence. New York : Oxford University Press, 2012. [Catalog Record]

Wills, Garry. Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence. New York: Vintage Books, 2018. [Catalog Record]

Younger Readers

Fradin, Dennis B. The Signers: The Fifty-Six Stories Behind the Declaration of Independence. New York: Walker, 2002. [Catalog Record]

Freedman, Russell. Give Me Liberty!: The Story of the Declaration of Independence. New York: Holiday House, 2000. [Catalog Record]

Gragg, Rod. The Declaration of Independence: The Story Behind America’s Founding Document and the Men Who Created It. Nashville, Tenn.: Rutledge Hill Press, 2005. [Catalog Record]

Graves, Kerry A. The Declaration of Independence: The Story Behind America's Founding Document. Philadelphia: Chelsea Clubhouse, 2004. [Catalog Record]

Raum, Elizabeth. The Declaration of Independence. Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2013. [Catalog Record]

Rissman, Rebecca. The Declaration of Independence. Minneapolis: ABDO Publishing Company, 2013. [Catalog Record]

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