Who at the Second Continental Congress first introduced a motion to make the American colonies independent?

On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee introduced a motion in the 2nd Continental Congress for the North American colonies to declare independence from Great Britain. Other members of Congress were amenable; but, they thought some colonies were not quite ready. Nonetheless, Congress did form a committee to draft a declaration of independence and assigned the chief duties to Thomas Jefferson.

Finally, on July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. The thirteen American colonies severed all their formal political connections with Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists’ motivations for seeking independence. By declaring themselves an independent nation, the American colonists were able to confirm an official alliance with the Government of France and obtain French assistance in the war against Great Britain.

The British Government did its best to dismiss the Declaration of Independence as a trivial document issued by disgruntled American colonists. British officials even commissioned propagandists to highlight the declaration’s flaws and to rebut the colonists’ complaints.