July 4th gets the fireworks. But the fuse of independence was sparked on May 15, 1776, 250 years ago this month, in Williamsburg, Virginia.
That was the day Virginia's colonial delegates voted unanimously to instruct their representatives in Philadelphia to propose independence from Britain. It was the first official government action by any colony calling for a break with the Crown, and it set everything else in motion. Three weeks later, on June 7, Virginia's Richard Henry Lee formally introduced the motion for independence in the Continental Congress. A committee was appointed. Thomas Jefferson was handed a quill.
Without Virginia's May 15th vote, the timeline of American independence might look quite different. The Declaration of Independence might carry a different date entirely.
July 4th still gets the party. But Virginia got there first, according to the Library of Virginia.
