The Second Continental Congress appointed the Committee of Five in June 1776 to draft the Declaration of Independence. Its members were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman.
Congress created the committee on June 11, 1776, after delegates moved toward a formal declaration separating the colonies from Great Britain. The committee selected Thomas Jefferson to prepare the initial draft, while Adams and Franklin reviewed and discussed the text with him.
Jefferson largely wrote the draft between June 11 and June 28 at the Philadelphia house he rented. The committee presented it to Congress on June 28, after which delegates debated and edited the document. Congress adopted the Declaration on July 4, 1776, the date commemorated by America250.