The Declaration of Independence is the pronouncement adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1776. The Declaration explained why the 13 colonies at ...

Maurizio Valsania does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond ...

Many years ago a reader, Wallace Hooper, wrote to the Chronicle publisher with this request: “To celebrate this and every July Fourth, print the entire text of the Declaration of Independence.” In ...

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress formally endorsed the Declaration of Independence. Celebrations began within days: parades and public readings, bonfires and candles and the firing of 13 ...

Editor's note: In honor of Independence Day — this year, we mark 249 years since the United States parted with Great Britain — we present the nation's founding document, the Declaration of ...