The Declaration of Independence is the document in which the
Thirteen Colonies declared themselves independent of the Kingdom
of Great Britain and explained their justifications for doing
so. It was ratified by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.
This anniversary is celebrated as Independence Day in the United
States. The handwritten copy signed by the delegates to the
Congress is on display in the National Archives in Washington,
D.C. Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the
Declaration. Throughout the 1760s and 1770s, relations between
Great Britain and thirteen of her North American colonies had
become increasingly strained. Fighting broke out in 1775 at
Lexington and Concord marking the beginning of the American
Revolutionary War. Although there was little initial sentiment
for outright independence, the pamphlet Common Sense by Thomas
Paine was able to promote the belief that total independence was
the only possible route for the colonies. The fifty-six signers
of the Declaration represente