Who drafted the Declaration of Independence honored by America250?

Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence honored by America250.

In June 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed a five-person Committee of Five to prepare a declaration explaining the colonies’ decision to separate from Great Britain. The committee included Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. Jefferson wrote the principal draft, which the committee reviewed before submitting it to Congress.

Congress debated and revised the text in late June and early July. The final document retained much of Jefferson’s structure and language but omitted or changed several passages, including a lengthy criticism of the slave trade and slavery. Congress adopted the Declaration on July 4, 1776.

Drafting the document did not make Jefferson its sole author in the legislative sense. Congress collectively approved the final wording, and the Declaration became an official statement of the united colonies rather than a private essay by Jefferson.