TIME

American Independence

John Trumbull’s painting of the Declaration of Independence, with the Committee of Five standing before John Hancock and members of Congress in a hall.

Recorded HistoryAmerican Independence

The Declaration of Independence.

On 4 July 1776 the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, drafted chiefly by Thomas Jefferson. It declared the thirteen colonies independent.

Congress voted for independence on 2 July. Its claim that all men are created equal excluded enslaved people, Native nations and women.

4 July 1776, placed on the scale of its era on a line leading toward now.

Era
Recorded History
Period
4 July 1776
Edition
1/1
Status
Not Released
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Background artwork

John Trumbull, Declaration of Independence, oil on canvas, 1819, United States Capitol Rotunda. Public domain. Painted more than forty years later, it shows the Committee of Five presenting its draft to Congress, not the signing, and not every man shown was present together on that day.