For America250, which founding document was primarily drafted by Thomas Jefferson?

For America250, the founding document primarily drafted by Thomas Jefferson is the Declaration of Independence.

In June 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed a five-member drafting committee. It selected Jefferson to prepare the initial draft, which he wrote in Philadelphia. The committee included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.

Congress then debated, edited, and approved the text. Jefferson was its principal author, but the final document was a collective act of Congress rather than a document written and approved by Jefferson alone. John Adams and Benjamin Franklin made important revisions during the drafting process.

The Declaration's opening argument connects natural rights with legitimate government and says that a people may change or abolish a government that violates those principles. America250 commemorates the document's 1776 adoption, while recognizing the broader work of Congress and the many people whose lives were affected by the Revolution.