The history of Independence Day 2023 dates back to the 18th century and the American Revolution (1775-83). In June 1776, representatives of the 13 colonies then fighting in the revolutionary struggle weighed a resolution that would declare independence of the United States from Great Britain. On July 2, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia. Two days later its delegates adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin.