Signing of the Declaration of Independence

Date: August 2, 1776 • Location: Center City, United States

American Revolution: The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress takes place.

The American Revolution (1765–1789) was a political movement in the Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain. It began as a colonial rebellion and evolved into a revolution, the result of which was the creation of the United States following the colonies' victory in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and British recognition of their independence in the Treaty of Paris. The Second Continental Congress, as the provisional government, established the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander-in-chief in 1775. The following year, the Congress passed the Lee Resolution on July 2nd and unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4th. Throughout most of the war, the outcome appeared uncertain, but a 1781 victory by Washington and the Continental Army in the Siege of Yorktown led King George III and the Fox–North coalition in government to negotiate the cessation of British colonial rule and the acknowledgment of American sovereignty, which was formalized in the Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783. The second U.S. Constitution took effect in 1789 and the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791.