The Second Continental Congress meet at the Pennsylvania State House on July 4, 1776 to announce the and explain the separation from Great …show more content…
The Declaration of Independence is a congressional statement that was later described as an "dress and ornament rather than Body, Soul, or Substance," which is a way of announcing to the world the fact of American independence, that was for Adams the thing that was worth celebrating. The Declaration we celebrate is what Abraham Lincoln called "the charter of our liberties," which is a document that meanings and function today are different from what they were in 1776. During the nineteenth century the Declaration of Independence became not only a way of announcing and justifying the end of Britain's power over the Thirteen Colonies and the emergence of the United States as an independent nation. But a statement of principles to guide, stable,and established governments. Indeed, it came to usurp. In fact if not in law a role that Americans normally delegated to bills of