Committee, which included Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Ben Franklin to draft a document to use to present their case for Independence.
At the same time The Second Continental Congress was moving closer to declaring independence because of the possible alliance with France which would help tremendously with the war effort.
In May of 1776, an exasperated Virginian wrote to his friend in Congress, " For God's sake, why do you dawdle in the Congress so strangely? Why do you not at once declare yourself a separate independent state?"
On July 2, after intense debate, the Continental Congress voted for independence.
Following the debate, delegates then turned to the document that Jefferson had written. Congress wrangled over the grievances, especially the issue of Slavery as Jefferson saw it as something King George had made and wanted to to be gone. Congress saw slavery as an easy labor system and it was very profitable.
Finally after scanning through every line of the document and changing a couple of things to fit into this new government the Amendments of Jefferson's text were complete and the congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776.