paragraph_text: For the United States, Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution says ``Congress shall have power to... declare War. ''However, that passage provides no specific format for what form legislation must have in order to be considered a`` declaration of war'' nor does the Constitution itself use this term. In the courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in Doe v. Bush, said: ``(T) he text of the October Resolution itself spells out justifications for a war and frames itself as an 'authorization' of such a war. ''in effect saying an authorization suffices for declaration and what some may view as a formal Congressional`` Declaration of War'' was not required by the Constitution.

paragraph_text: The Declaration became official when Congress voted for it on July 4; signatures of the delegates were not needed to make it official. The handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence that was signed by Congress is dated July 4, 1776. The signatures of fifty - six delegates are affixed; however, the exact date when each person signed it has long been the subject of debate. Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams all wrote that the Declaration had been signed by Congress on July 4. But in 1796, signer Thomas McKean disputed that the Declaration had been signed on July 4, pointing out that some signers were not then present, including several who were not even elected to Congress until after that date.

paragraph_text: The American Revolutionary War (1775 -- 1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a global war that began as a conflict between Great Britain and her Thirteen Colonies, which declared independence as the United States of America.

paragraph_text: The Texas Declaration of Independence was the formal declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico in the Texas Revolution. It was adopted at the Convention of 1836 at Washington - on - the - Brazos on March 2, 1836, and formally signed the following day after mistakes were noted in the text.

paragraph_text: Signing of the United States Declaration of Independence John Trumbull's painting Declaration of Independence, depicting the five - man drafting committee of the Declaration of Independence presenting their work to the Second Continental Congress Date August 2, 1776 (1776 - 08 - 02) Venue Independence Hall Location Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Coordinates 39 ° 56 ′ 56 ''N 75 ° 09 ′ 00'' W ﻿ / ﻿ 39.948889 ° N 75.15 ° W ﻿ / 39.948889; - 75.15 Coordinates: 39 ° 56 ′ 56 ''N 75 ° 09 ′ 00'' W ﻿ / ﻿ 39.948889 ° N 75.15 ° W ﻿ / 39.948889; - 75.15 Participants Delegates to the Second Continental Congress

paragraph_text: The United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, over 2 ​ ⁄ years after World War I started. A ceasefire and Armistice was declared on November 11, 1918. Before entering the war, the U.S. had remained neutral, though it had been an important supplier to Great Britain and the other Allied powers.

paragraph_text: It is celebrated on 7 September, the anniversary of the date in 1822 that prince regent Dom Pedro declared Brazil's independence from Portugal. Formal recognition came with a treaty signed by both Brazil and Portugal in late 1825.

paragraph_text: On June 12, 1990, the Congress of People's Deputies adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty. On June 12, 1991, Boris Yeltsin was elected the first President. On December 8, 1991, heads of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed the Belavezha Accords. The agreement declared dissolution of the USSR by its founder states (i.e. denunciation of 1922 Treaty on the Creation of the USSR) and established the CIS. On December 12, the agreement was ratified by the Russian Parliament, therefore Russian SFSR denounced the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and de facto declared Russia's independence from the USSR.

paragraph_text: The U.S. declaration of war on Germany, on 6 April 1917 was on the grounds that Germany had violated its neutrality by attacking international shipping and the Zimmermann Telegram sent to Mexico. It declared war on Austria - Hungary in December 1917. The U.S. entered the war as an ``associated power '', rather than as a formal ally of France and the United Kingdom, in order to avoid`` foreign entanglements''. Although the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria severed relations with the United States, neither declared war.

paragraph_text: At the end of the war, the victorious powers sought to divide up the Ottoman Empire. Signed between the Allied and Associated Powers and Ottoman Empire at Sèvres on 10 August 1920, the Treaty of Sèvres promised to maintain the existence of the Armenian republic and to attach the former territories of Ottoman Armenia to it. Because the new borders of Armenia were to be drawn by United States President Woodrow Wilson, Ottoman Armenia was also referred to as "Wilsonian Armenia." In addition, just days prior, on 5 August 1920, Mihran Damadian of the Armenian National Union, the de facto Armenian administration in Cilicia, declared the independence of Cilicia as an Armenian autonomous republic under French protectorate.

paragraph_text: On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked a special joint session of the United States Congress for a declaration of war against the German Empire. Congress responded with the declaration on April 6.

paragraph_text: The National Assembly began the process of drafting a constitution. The Declaration of the Rights of Man, adopted on 27 August 1789 eventually became the preamble of the constitution adopted on 3 September 1791. The Declaration offered sweeping generalizations about rights, liberty, and sovereignty.

paragraph_text: Fourteen men served as president of Congress. The first was Peyton Randolph, who was elected on September 5, 1774. The last president, Cyrus Griffin, resigned in November 1788. President John Hancock is remembered for his large, bold signature on the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted and signed during his presidency.

paragraph_text: Paleo - Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century. The United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the Seven Years' War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, and the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776. The war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to attain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788. The first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties.

paragraph_text: The Soviet Union was dissolved on December 26, 1991. It was a result of the declaration number 142 - Н of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. The declaration acknowledged the independence of the former Soviet republics and created the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), although five of the signatories ratified it much later or did not do so at all. On the previous day, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, resigned, declared his office extinct, and handed over its powers -- including control of the Soviet nuclear missile launching codes -- to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. That evening at 7: 32, the Soviet flag was lowered from the Kremlin for the last time and replaced with the pre-revolutionary Russian flag.

paragraph_text: The United States Declaration of Independence is the statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. The Declaration announced that the thirteen American colonies at war with the Kingdom of Great Britain would now regard themselves as thirteen independent sovereign states no longer under British rule. With the Declaration, these states formed a new nation -- the United States of America.

paragraph_text: Ben Barnes as Samuel ``Sam ''Adams Marton Csokas as General Thomas Gage Ryan Eggold as Dr. Joseph Warren Michael Raymond - James as Paul Revere Rafe Spall as John Hancock Henry Thomas as John Adams Jason O'Mara as George Washington Dean Norris as Benjamin Franklin Emily Berrington as Margaret Kemble Gage Sean Gilder as Thomas Hutchinson Kevin J. Ryan as John Pitcairn Shane Taylor as Captain Thomas Preston Jimmy Akingbola as Peter Salem

paragraph_text: The American Revolutionary War (1775 -- 1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a global war that began as a conflict between Great Britain and its Thirteen Colonies which declared independence as the United States of America.

paragraph_text: The Constitution also gives Congress an important role in national defense, including the exclusive power to declare war, to raise and maintain the armed forces, and to make rules for the military. Some critics charge that the executive branch has usurped Congress's Constitutionally - defined task of declaring war. While historically presidents initiated the process for going to war, they asked for and received formal war declarations from Congress for the War of 1812, the Mexican -- American War, the Spanish -- American War, World War I, and World War II, although President Theodore Roosevelt's military move into Panama in 1903 did not get Congressional assent. Presidents have initiated war without Congressional war declarations; Truman called the Korean War a ``police action ''and the Vietnam War lasted over a decade without a declaration of war. In 1970, Time magazine noted:`` All told, it has been calculated, U.S. presidents have ordered troops into position or action without a formal congressional declaration a total of 149 times'' before 1970. In 1993, one writer noted ``Congress's war power has become the most flagrantly disregarded provision in the Constitution, ''and that the`` real erosion (of Congressional authority to declare war) began after World War II.'' President George H.W. Bush claimed he could begin Operation Desert Storm and launch a ``deliberate, unhurried, post -- Cold War decision to start a war ''without Congressional approval. Critics charge that President George W. Bush largely initiated the Iraq War with little debate in Congress or consultation with Congress, despite a Congressional vote on military force authorization. Disagreement about the extent of congressional versus presidential power regarding war has been present periodically throughout the nation's history.

paragraph_text: The dissolution of the Soviet Union was formally enacted on December 26, 1991, as a result of the declaration no. 142-Н of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. The declaration acknowledged the independence of the former Soviet republics and created the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), although five of the signatories ratified it much later or not at all. On the previous day, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, resigned, declared his office extinct, and handed over its powers – including control of the Soviet nuclear missile launching codes – to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. That evening at 7:32 p.m., the Soviet flag was lowered from the Kremlin for the last time and replaced with the pre-revolutionary Russian flag.

Question: In Sons of Liberty, who plays the person presiding over the body with the power to declare war in the U.S. at the signing of the Declaration of Independence?
Answer: Rafe Spall