Which five-member committee drafted the Declaration of Independence celebrated by America250?

The Committee of Five drafted the Declaration of Independence celebrated by America250.

Congress appointed the committee on June 11, 1776. Its members were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. Jefferson wrote the principal draft, while the committee presented the text to Congress for debate and revision.

The committee’s work was not the final word: the Second Continental Congress edited the draft over several days before approving it on July 4. One notable change was the removal of a passage criticizing the transatlantic slave trade and slavery, which Jefferson had included in his draft.

The Committee of Five should not be confused with the Committee of Thirteen, which Congress appointed for a proposed constitution in June 1776. The Committee of Five was specifically responsible for drafting the declaration explaining independence from Great Britain.