[78]

Independence
Throughout the first half of 1776, Adams grew increasingly impatient with what he perceived to be the slow pace of declaring independence.[79] He kept busy on the floor of the Congress, helping push through a plan to outfit armed ships to launch raids on enemy vessels. Later in the year, he drafted the first set of regulations to govern the provisional navy.[80] Adams drafted the preamble to the Lee Resolution of colleague Richard Henry Lee.[81] He developed a rapport with delegate Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, who had been slower to support independence but by early 1776 agreed that it was necessary.[82] On June 7, 1776, Adams seconded the Lee Resolution, which stated that the colonies were "free and independent states."[83]

The Assembly Room in Philadelphia's Independence Hall, where the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence
Prior to independence being declared, Adams organized and selected a Committee of Five charged with drafting a Declaration of Independence. He chose himself, Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston and Roger Sherman.[84] Jefferson thought Adams should write the document, but Adams persuaded the committee to choose Jefferson. 