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 Mr. 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, i.e., the day the wording of the
Declaration war approved by Congress.