Five members served on the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence for America250’s founding story.
The committee was appointed by the Second Continental Congress on June 11, 1776. Its members were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. Jefferson prepared the initial draft, after which the committee reviewed it and submitted it to Congress.
The committee did not itself declare independence. Congress had to debate, revise, and approve the document. The group’s name refers simply to its membership, while the separate Committee of Thirteen was appointed to consider a framework for union.
The Committee of Five worked during a compressed period in June and early July 1776. Congress ultimately removed nearly a quarter of Jefferson’s draft and altered other passages before approving the final text on July 4. That collaborative process is why calling Jefferson the sole author is an oversimplification.