While the fighting of the American Revolutionary War continued, Congress sought unsuccessfully for ways to resolve the dispute between England and the Colonies. No demand for independence was made until June 1776, when Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee offered a resolution declaring "That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States," and calling for the establishment of foreign alliances and a plan of confederation. In response, Congress appointed a committee to draft a declaration "setting forth the causes which impelled us to this mighty resolution."