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The Continental Congress agreed to declare independence from Great Britain

July 02, 1776
The Continental Congress agreed to declare independence from Great Britain Image courtesy of Library of Congress A Member of the Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia became one of the first Senators from the "Old Dominion" state.
The Continental Congress agreed to declare independence from Great Britain on this date. Delegate Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a measure whereby the Congress resolved, “That these United Colonies are, and, of right, ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connexion between them, and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be, totally dissolved.” Two days later, on July 4, 1776, Congress approved the formal document, the “Declaration of Independence.” Fifty-six Delegates signed the document created by the “Committee of Five”: Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, John Adams of Massachusetts, Robert Livingston of New York, Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia.

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