Question: when did the continental congress vote to adopt the declaration of independence?
Answer: July 2 , 1776

The Second Continental Congress convened on May 10 , 1775 , at Philadelphia 's State House , passing the resolution for independence the following year on July 2 , 1776 , and publicly asserting the decision two days later with the Declaration of Independence . Thomas Jefferson of Virginia drafted the declaration , and John Adams was a leader in the debates in favor of its adoption . John Hancock of Massachusetts was the president during those debates . To govern during the American Revolutionary War , the Second Continental Congress continued , meeting at various locations , until it became the Congress of the Confederation when the Articles of Confederation were ratified on March 1 , 1781 .