Who drafted most of the United States Declaration of Independence?

Thomas Jefferson drafted most of the United States Declaration of Independence.

In June 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed the Committee of Five to prepare a declaration. The committee included Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. Jefferson wrote the principal draft, which the committee reviewed before presenting it to Congress.

Congress then debated, edited, and shortened the text before approving it on July 4, 1776. Jefferson therefore was the principal drafter, but the final Declaration was a congressional document rather than a text adopted exactly as he first wrote it.

The Declaration’s famous language about natural rights made Jefferson internationally influential. He later served as the third president of the United States, while Adams and Franklin also played major roles in its creation.