# 1776
**1776** was the year in which Britain's thirteen North American colonies declared independence, adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, and fought the opening campaigns of the Revolutionary War, and it was also the year [Adam Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/adam-smith) published *The Wealth of Nations* and [Thomas Paine](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-paine)'s *Common Sense* turned colonial grievance into a movement for republican independence. Two hundred and fifty years later, the year remains a contested symbol in American public life, most visibly around the Semiquincentennial commemorations of 2026.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Independence vote | Congress adopted the independence section of the Lee Resolution on July 2, 1776, by 12 of 13 colonies, with New York not voting[1](https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-history) |
| Declaration adopted | July 4, 1776, after revision through July 3 and most of July 4; John Dunlap printed roughly 200 broadside copies that night[2](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/declaration-of-independence) • [3](https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration/how-did-it-happen) |
| Signing | Delegates began signing the engrossed parchment on August 2, 1776; 56 delegates eventually signed[2](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/declaration-of-independence) |
| Pivotal publications | Paine's *Common Sense* (January 10, 1776) and Smith's *The Wealth of Nations* (March 9, 1776)[4](https://apnews.com/article/38f116e1a022c07c55f5d4e1579a595c) • [5](https://www.adamsmithworks.org/documents/editor-s-introduction) |
| Military low point and recovery | Defeat on Long Island in August, then Washington's Christmas night crossing of the Delaware and victories at Trenton (December 26) and Princeton (January 3, 1777)[6](https://home.nps.gov/subjects/americanrevolution/timeline.htm) |
| Commemoration | Congress created a commission for the centennial (1876), sesquicentennial (1926), bicentennial (1976), and semiquincentennial (2026)[7](https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/2025-03-27_R48473_68288fdfec2a7795aab6b49a5fb070bca28e2b68.html) |
## Drafting and adopting the Declaration
Although fighting had begun in April 1775 at Lexington and Concord, formal independence was decided in the summer of 1776. On June 10, Congress appointed a committee of five to draft a statement of independence: [Thomas Jefferson](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-jefferson), John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and [Roger Sherman](https://www.edgepedia.org/roger-sherman), with the actual writing delegated to [Jefferson](https://www.edgepedia.org/jefferson)[2](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/declaration-of-independence). Jefferson drafted the text between June 11 and 28, drawing on documents such as the Virginia Declaration of Rights and Enlightenment-era ideals, and submitted it to Adams and Franklin, who made some changes[2](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/declaration-of-independence) • [3](https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration/how-did-it-happen).
The sequence of dates matters. The Lee Resolution's independence clause passed on July 2; Congress then debated the declaration through all of July 3 and into the late morning of July 4, adopting it that afternoon[1](https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-history). Jefferson was displeased with the congressional edits, especially the removal of a passage blaming King George III for the slave trade[3](https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration/how-did-it-happen).
**Printing and signing.** John Dunlap, the official printer to Congress, set the text in type overnight and printed approximately 200 unsigned copies, the Dunlap Broadsides, bearing only [John Hancock](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-hancock)'s name in type; one copy crossed the Atlantic and reached King George III months later[3](https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration/how-did-it-happen). On July 19 Congress ordered the text engrossed, copied in a large hand, on parchment under the title "the unanimous declaration of the thirteen united states of America." Hancock signed the engrossed copy on August 2, and other delegates followed, arranged by state from [New Hampshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-hampshire) to Georgia; 56 delegates eventually signed, though some, including drafting-committee member Robert R. Livingston, never did[2](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/declaration-of-independence).
## The ideological turn
One recent assessment argues that the year's most consequential change was not on the battlefield but in political allegiance: at the start of 1776, most colonists were content to remain under royal rule so long as they enjoyed the rights of British subjects, but by year's end most Americans with a position on the question favored separation[8](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/american-revolution-1776-what-changed/684579/). The rejection of monarchism as a core American value is identified as the central shift[8](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/american-revolution-1776-what-changed/684579/).
Two publications frame that turn. On January 10, 1776, Thomas Paine anonymously published *Common Sense*, the first widely read pamphlet proposing American independence, arguing that "the cause of America is in great measure the cause of all mankind"[4](https://apnews.com/article/38f116e1a022c07c55f5d4e1579a595c) • [9](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/beyond-myths-1776). Within weeks it became the best-selling and most widely read pamphlet of its day, and the King, rather than Parliament, became the target of colonial grievance[8](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/american-revolution-1776-what-changed/684579/). Four months later, on March 9, Adam Smith published the first edition of *An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations* in two quarto volumes, a work that became foundational to classical economics[5](https://www.adamsmithworks.org/documents/editor-s-introduction).
## The war in 1776
The year's fighting went badly for the patriot cause before it went well. A loyalist force was defeated at Moores Creek Bridge, North Carolina, on February 27, largely quieting loyalist activity in the Carolinas for three years, and a British invasion fleet failed to take Charleston when it was repulsed at Sullivan's Island on June 28[6](https://home.nps.gov/subjects/americanrevolution/timeline.htm). After independence was declared, the British army drove Washington's forces out of [Long Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/long-island), Manhattan, and finally New Jersey in the late summer and autumn[6](https://home.nps.gov/subjects/americanrevolution/timeline.htm).
The recovery came in winter. On Christmas night 1776 Washington crossed the [Delaware River](https://www.edgepedia.org/delaware-river) into New Jersey and surprised a force of German troops fighting for Britain at Trenton on December 26; a similar victory followed over British troops at Princeton on January 3, 1777, reviving hopes that the war might be winnable[6](https://home.nps.gov/subjects/americanrevolution/timeline.htm). The war itself did not end until the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781 and the Treaty of Paris in 1783[10](https://history.state.gov/milestones/1776-1783/foreword).
## Commemoration and contest
Anniversaries of 1776 have repeatedly served as moments of national reflection. Congress created a commission to coordinate nationwide celebration for the centennial in 1876, the sesquicentennial in 1926, the bicentennial in 1976, and the semiquincentennial in 2026[7](https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/2025-03-27_R48473_68288fdfec2a7795aab6b49a5fb070bca28e2b68.html). The 1976 Bicentennial produced what one historian describes as an unprecedented outpouring of visual commemoration, while, in his view, overlooking enduring contradictions, especially slavery[11](https://source.washu.edu/news_clip/beyond-the-bicentennial-what-1776-still-bequeaths-to-america/).
The 250th anniversary in 2026 arrived amid political dispute over how the founding should be presented. In the final months of his first presidency, Donald Trump established the "[1776 Commission](https://www.edgepedia.org/1776-commission)" as part of an effort to define "patriotic" history, and its report was scorned by professional historians as propaganda rather than history[12](https://time.com/6159112/250th-anniversary-american-history/) • [13](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/america-birthday-national-story/680248/). In 2026 the administration worked to censor accounts of US history in Smithsonian museums, at national historical sites, and on government websites, while promoting its own official commemorations[14](https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2026/05/13/re-visioning-american-history/). Scholars note that the Declaration itself has been used across two centuries to advocate social justice and to maintain inequitable hierarchies, to justify revolutions abroad and the Confederacy's secession[15](https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/jj.28174288), and that for many Americans the date symbolizes freedom and self-determination while others point to the exclusion of women, enslaved people, and [Indigenous peoples](https://www.edgepedia.org/indigenous-peoples) from the founding settlement[16](https://www.uni-mannheim.de/en/news/special-issue-amerikastudien-us-declaration-of-independence/).
**New documentary finds.** The anniversary period has also produced discoveries. In May 2026 a volunteer at Britain's National Archives found a copy of the Declaration among the papers of an 18th-century [Royal Navy](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-navy) captain, attached to a report on the capture of the American privateer *Dalton* on [Christmas Eve](https://www.edgepedia.org/christmas-eve) 1776. It is an Exeter, New Hampshire, printing of July 16 to 19, 1776, one of just 11 known copies and the only one identified outside the United States[17](https://apnews.com/article/d9336ffef70b9c79183ce4d54d9466e7).
## References
1. [The Declaration of Independence: A History, National Archives](https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-history)
2. [Declaration of Independence (1776), National Archives Milestone Documents](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/declaration-of-independence)
3. [The Declaration of Independence: How Did it Happen?, National Archives](https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration/how-did-it-happen)
4. [Today in History: January 10, Thomas Paine publishes 'Common Sense', AP News](https://apnews.com/article/38f116e1a022c07c55f5d4e1579a595c)
5. [Editor's Introduction to The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith Works](https://www.adamsmithworks.org/documents/editor-s-introduction)
6. [Timeline of the Revolution, U.S. National Park Service](https://home.nps.gov/subjects/americanrevolution/timeline.htm)
7. [Congressional Research Service report on national anniversary commissions](https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/2025-03-27_R48473_68288fdfec2a7795aab6b49a5fb070bca28e2b68.html)
8. [What Actually Changed in 1776, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/american-revolution-1776-what-changed/684579/)
9. [Beyond the Myths of 1776, Brennan Center for Justice](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/beyond-myths-1776)
10. [1776–1783: Diplomacy and the American Revolution, U.S. State Department Office of the Historian](https://history.state.gov/milestones/1776-1783/foreword)
11. [Beyond the Bicentennial: What 1776 Still Bequeaths to America, Washington University in St. Louis](https://source.washu.edu/news_clip/beyond-the-bicentennial-what-1776-still-bequeaths-to-america/)
12. [The 250th Birthday of the U.S. Is Just a Few Years Away. Get Ready for Controversy, TIME](https://time.com/6159112/250th-anniversary-american-history/)
13. [America Is Suffering an Identity Crisis, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/america-birthday-national-story/680248/)
14. [Re-visioning American History, Yale University Press](https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2026/05/13/re-visioning-american-history/)
15. [Used, Abused, and Sidelined: Debating the Declaration, JSTOR](https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/jj.28174288)
16. [Special Issue of Amerikastudien Marking the 250th Anniversary, University of Mannheim](https://www.uni-mannheim.de/en/news/special-issue-amerikastudien-us-declaration-of-independence/)
17. [Rare copy of Declaration of Independence found by UK National Archives, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/d9336ffef70b9c79183ce4d54d9466e7)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › General historical chronologies › Year articles, early modern (1501–1800)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license