Which five-man group drafted the United States Declaration of Independence for Congress in 1776?

The five-man group that drafted the United States Declaration of Independence for Congress in 1776 was the Committee of Five.

Congress appointed the committee on June 11, 1776. Its members were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. The group presented its work to Congress on June 28.

Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft, while the other committee members reviewed it before Congress debated and edited the text. Congress shortened the draft and removed several passages before adopting the final wording on July 4.

The Committee of Five is sometimes confused with the Committee of the Whole, which was the larger congressional body that debated the draft. It is also distinct from the later Committee of Detail, which helped prepare the 1787 Constitution. The committee’s work became one of the central events commemorated by America250.