Virginia Convention declares independence, May 15, 1776
As the Second Continental Congress debated if the colonies should declare independence, the Fifth Virginia Convention, the patriot legislature, commits itself. It instructs its delegates to tell the Congress “to declare the United Colonies free and independent states, absolved from all allegiance to, or dependence upon, the Crown or Parliament of Great Britain.” Residents in Williamsburg, where the convention was meeting, mark the occasion by taking down the Union Jack from over the colonial capitol and running up a continental union flag. The convention also produces the first state constitution and the Virginia Declaration of Rights.