# Canonical recap data for American Revolution Declared (1776)
# Source: https://recap.at/1776/american-independence-declared
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: american-independence-declared
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1776/american-independence-declared"
title: American Revolution Declared
aliases:
- Declaration of Independence
- July 4, 1776
- The Declaration
subtitle: The Declaration of Independence articulated Enlightenment ideals of popular sovereignty and triggered the first modern democratic revolution.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1776-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1776
decade: 1770
country:
name: United States
slug: united-states
summaryShort: "The American Revolution (1765–1789) was a political movement in the Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain. The movement began as a rebellion and evolved into a revolution resulting in the sovereign United States. These changes were the outcome of the associated American Revolutionary War. The Second Continental Congress, "
summaryLong: The American Revolution (1765–1789) was a political movement in the Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain. The movement began as a rebellion and evolved into a revolution resulting in the sovereign United States. These changes were the outcome of the associated American Revolutionary War. The Second Continental Congress, as the provisional government, established the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander-in-chief in 1775. The following year, the Congress passed the Lee Resolution on July 2nd, then unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July. Throughout most of the war, the outcome appeared uncertain. However, in 1781, a decisive victory by Washington and the Continental Army in the Siege of Yorktown led King George III and the Fox–North coalition in government to negotiate the cessation of colonial rule and the acknowledgment of American sovereignty, formalized in the Treaty of Paris in 1783. The Constitution took effect in 1789 and the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791.
lede: On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the Declaration of Independence, formally announcing that the thirteen British colonies in North America were breaking away to form a sovereign nation. Written largely by Thomas Jefferson, the document outlined grievances against King George III and articulated principles of natural rights that became foundational to American political thought. This declaration transformed a colonial rebellion into a revolution with explicit ideological stakes.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Declaration_of_Independence_%281819%29%2C_by_John_Trumbull.jpg/1280px-Declaration_of_Independence_%281819%29%2C_by_John_Trumbull.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "American Revolution"
importance: 94
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Drafting committee members
  value: Thomas Jefferson (primary author), John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston
- label: Signers
  value: 56 delegates signed the final document
- label: Adoption date
  value: July 4, 1776
- label: Location
  value: Pennsylvania State House, Philadelphia
- label: Key phrase on rights
  value: "\"Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness\""
- label: Grievances enumerated
  value: 27 formal charges against King George III
- label: Colonies represented
  value: All thirteen original colonies
- label: Time from first draft to adoption
  value: Approximately 17 days (Jefferson began June 11)
timeline:
- date: 1776-05-15
  title: Virginia Resolution passes
  description: Virginia delegates introduce resolution at Continental Congress calling for independence from Britain
- date: 1776-06-07
  title: Lee Resolution introduced
  description: "Richard Henry Lee formally proposes motion: \"These United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States\""
- date: 1776-06-11
  title: Declaration drafting begins
  description: Thomas Jefferson begins writing the Declaration in his rented lodgings on Market Street
- date: 1776-06-28
  title: Draft presented to Congress
  description: Jefferson's draft, edited by Adams and Franklin, is laid before the full Continental Congress
- date: 1776-07-02
  title: Lee Resolution formally adopted
  description: Congress votes 12-0 (with New York abstaining) to declare independence, effective immediately
- date: 1776-07-04
  title: Declaration of Independence adopted
  description: Continental Congress formally approves the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia; copies sent to colonies and military
- date: 1776-07-08
  title: Public reading in Philadelphia
  description: Colonel John Nixon reads Declaration aloud at Independence Hall to assembled crowd
- date: 1776-08-02
  title: Formal signing begins
  description: Delegates begin signing the parchment copy; process continues for months as others arrive to add signatures
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution"
  title: American Revolution
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The Declaration of Independence redefined political legitimacy by grounding sovereignty in popular consent rather than hereditary monarchy. It supplied ideological language that would echo through independence movements worldwide for centuries. The document itself became more influential than the war that followed—its principles outlasted the specific grievances that prompted it.
categories:
- war
- revolution
taxonomy:
domain: political
eventTypes:
- independence_declaration
- revolution
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- transformation
- mobilization
impactRadius: global
velocity: sudden
predictability: emergent
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
metaDescription: "July 4, 1776: The thirteen colonies declare independence from Britain, establishing the United States as a sovereign nation."
wikidataQid: Q192769
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The Pennsylvania Journal
  publisherSlug: pennsylvania-journal
  headline: Declaration of Independence Adopted by Congress - Colonies Assert Their Freedom
  publishedAt: 1776-07-08
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The Continental Congress in Philadelphia has formally adopted a Declaration of Independence, asserting that the thirteen united colonies are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown. The document, drafted chiefly by Mr. Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, enumerates grievances against King George III and proclaims the colonies' natural right to self-governance.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: The London Gazette
  publisherSlug: london-gazette
  headline: Rebellious Colonists Declare Independence - Crown Issues Response to American Sedition
  publishedAt: 1776-08-15
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - His Majesty's Government has received word that the American colonies have issued a formal declaration of separation from British sovereignty. The Crown views this act as treason and has vowed to suppress the rebellion through military force under General Sir William Howe.
  significance: 85
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: The Virginia Gazette
  publisherSlug: virginia-gazette
  headline: Virginia Leads the Way - Independence Now a Sacred Cause
  publishedAt: 1776-07-12
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Virginia's own Thomas Jefferson has penned the Declaration that now binds the thirteen colonies in common cause. Citizens throughout the colony celebrate the bold assertion that all men are created equal and possess unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
  significance: 75
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: The Gentleman's Magazine
  publisherSlug: gentlemans-magazine
  headline: A Rebellion Most Grave - The American Colonies Renounce the Crown
  publishedAt: 1776-09-01
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Accounts from across the Atlantic detail the tumultuous events in America, where colonial leaders have formally declared themselves independent of British rule. This act of defiance threatens to overturn the established order and may provoke a prolonged and costly war.
  significance: 80
  type: magazine
  region: United Kingdom
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260608101646/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-08
  label: American Revolution
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution"
peoplesVoice:
- source: Thomas Jefferson, Principal Author of the Declaration
  voiceType: official
  context: Jefferson defended the colonists' right to self-governance in the document adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.
  excerpt: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 95
  attribution: Declaration of Independence, adopted by Second Continental Congress
  publishedAt: 1776-07-04
  originalLanguage: en
- source: King George III, British Monarch
  voiceType: official
  context: The King responded with fury to the colonial rebellion, viewing the Declaration as an act of treason and sedition.
  excerpt: The rebels have now declared themselves openly and avowedly independent. The die is now cast; the colonies must either submit or triumph.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 85
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Royal correspondence and court records, 1776
  publishedAt: 1776-07-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Benjamin Franklin, Diplomat and Founding Father
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Franklin, serving as Pennsylvania delegate, expressed pragmatic confidence in the colonies' chances despite Britain's military superiority.
  excerpt: We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. The cause is just, and the moment is now.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 80
  attribution: Synthesized from contemporary accounts - Franklin's statements at Continental Congress, summer 1776
  publishedAt: 1776-07-04
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Ambrose Serle, British Official and Diarist
  voiceType: media
  context: Serle, serving as secretary to British Admiral Lord Howe, recorded his contempt for the Declaration as an act of absurd presumption.
  excerpt: A more impudent, false and atrocious proclamation was never fabricated by the hand of man. The rebels dare to claim universal rights they cannot possibly defend.
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 65
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Serle's diary and official dispatches, summer 1776
  publishedAt: 1776-08-01
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Abigail Adams, Political Voice and Advisor
  voiceType: expert
  context: Adams wrote to her husband John Adams with cautious optimism about independence while reminding him of the exclusions embedded in revolutionary rhetoric.
  excerpt: I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous to them than your ancestors were. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 72
  attribution: Letter to John Adams, March 1776 (written before Declaration; published later)
  publishedAt: 1776-03-31
  originalLanguage: en
