The Committee of Five drafted the Declaration of Independence for the Congress celebrated by America250.
Congress appointed the committee on June 11, 1776, after deciding that a formal explanation of independence was needed. Its members were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston.
Jefferson wrote the principal draft, while the other members reviewed and edited it before presenting it to Congress. Congress then debated and revised the text, so the final Declaration reflects both Jefferson’s writing and congressional action.
The group is sometimes confused with the broader Second Continental Congress or with committees created to manage colonial resistance. The Committee of Five had a specific, short-term task: preparing the declaration that Congress approved on July 4, 1776.