Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence
Abdul Moussa
Adopted on July 4, 1776, the United States Declaration of Independence declared that the Thirteen Colonies in North America we “free and independent states”?
The Declaration explained the justifications for separation from the British crown.
It was also an expansion of Richard Henry Lee’s Resolution which had been passed on July 2.
Americans celebrate Independence on July 4 which was the day that the Declaration was adopted. John Hancock the President of the Continental Congress was the first and only person to sign the Declaration on July 4, 1776. The remaining 54 delegates did not sign the Declaration until August 2, 1776. The Second Continental Congress formed a committee known today as The Committee of Five. It consisted of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. The Committee of Five was to come up with a draft for the Declaration. They also decided that Jefferson would write the Declaration. The Committee of Five first presented the document to Congress on June 28, 1776. Jefferson was born in to a wealthy family in the United States owning many slaves. Although he John Adams and Benjamin Franklin helped Jefferson with the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson is the actual author of the Declaration of Independence. In 1776 he was part of a Virginia delegation that planned to ask the Second Continental Congress to sever ties from Great Britain. In 1776 Jefferson proposed a motto for the United States Seal. It read, “Rebellion to tyrants is Obedience to God.”?