Thomas Jefferson wrote most of the draft that became the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Jefferson served on the five-member Committee of Five appointed by the Second Continental Congress to prepare a declaration. The other members were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. The committee selected Jefferson to produce the initial draft.
Congress edited Jefferson’s text before approving the final document on July 4, 1776. Members removed or changed passages, including a section criticizing the transatlantic slave trade and slavery’s connection to British policy. The adopted declaration therefore was not identical to Jefferson’s original draft.
Jefferson’s authorship is also distinct from the document’s approval and signing. Congress adopted the Declaration in Philadelphia, while the engrossed parchment was signed primarily on August 2, 1776, by 56 delegates.