4th July 1776: United States Declaration of Independence adopted unanimously by the Second Continental Congress

**Scott Allsop** (0:00)
On the 4th of July 1776 the United States Declaration of Independence was adopted unanimously by the Second Continental Congress. Welcome to HistoryPod.
In the aftermath of the Seven Years' War the British government introduced a series of taxes and regulations intended to raise revenue from the colonies. Measures such as the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts provoked widespread opposition, with many colonists arguing that taxation without representation in parliament violated their traditional rights. The situation deteriorated after incidents including the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party leading to armed conflict at Lexington and Concord in April 1775
By the summer of 1776, many colonial leaders believed that reconciliation with Britain was no longer possible. On the 7th June, Richard Henry Lee proposed a resolution declaring independence. Congress appointed a committee consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston to prepare a formal declaration. Jefferson's initial draft was revised by the committee and debated by Congress. The final declaration combined a statement of political philosophy with a detailed list of grievances against King George III. Drawing on Enlightenment ideas, it argued that governments derived their authority from the consent of the governed, and that the people possessed the right to alter or abolish governments that failed to protect their rights. The document therefore announced that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as free and independent states, no longer subject to the authority of the British Crown. The signing of the Declaration of Independence therefore marked the birth of the United States as a political entity and a set of principles upon which the new nation claimed legitimacy.