Independence had been talked about more and more for several months, but June 7, 1776, was the day that forced the issue to a debate, when Richard Henry Lee of Virginia made a motion in the Continental Congress:
That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.
John Adams of Massachusetts seconded the motion.
Not everybody was ready to declare independence. Some of the delegates in Congress were against it, but not because they were unpatriotic; some of them, for examples, said that the time wasn’t ripe yet, and that it would be best to wait a bit longer. Others needed to get authorization from the people they represented before voting for such a drastic step. Once they declared independence, they knew, there would be no turning back. They would literally be putting their lives on the line.
That was on a Friday. The delegates debated about it that day and the next, but didn’t come to a conclusion. On the following Monday, they agreed to postpone the debate until July 1, which was three weeks away. But “in the mean while, that no time be lost, in case the Congress agree thereto,” they decided to appoint a committee to go ahead and write a declaration of independence. The committee included Thomas Jefferson.