In October 1781, news of the British surrender at Yorktown reached Philadelphia, and crowds poured into the streets to celebrate. They...
In December 1777, Continental Army Colonel David Henley climbed off his horse to discipline a drunk British prisoner of war with a sword...
In December 1776, a Lenape leader named White Eyes traveled to Philadelphia and stood before the Second Continental Congress. He had not...
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. Over the weeks that followed, Americans gathered...
The engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence is on display at the National Archives building in Washington, DC. Millions of...
Five men served on the Continental Congress’s Declaration Committee. We know three of them well: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin...
On June 12, 1776, the Second Continental Congress turned to the third and perhaps the most difficult element of independence: drafting a...
In June 1776, the Second Continental Congress faced a question every new nation must answer: how do you make other countries take you...
On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to declare independence. But that vote didn’t begin with the Declaration of...
When we picture the War for American Independence, we picture battles. But for the men and women who actually lived and fought in it, the...