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The Declaration of Independence 
was a statement adopted by the 
Continental Congress on July 4, 
1776, which announced that the 
thirteen 
American colonies then at war with 
Great Britain regarded themselves as 
independent
states, and no longer a part of the British 
Empire. 
Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, 
the Declaration was a formal explanation of why Congress had 
voted on July 2 to declare 
independence from Great Britain, more than 
a year 
after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. 
The birthday of the United States 
of America-Independence Day-is celebrated on 
July 4, the day 
the wording of the Declaration was approved 
by Congress.