Who drafted the Declaration of Independence, whose adoption America250 commemorates?

Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, whose adoption America250 commemorates. Congress assigned the writing task to the five-member Committee of Five, which selected Jefferson to prepare the principal draft.

Jefferson wrote most of the first draft between June 11 and June 28, 1776. The committee then presented it to the Second Continental Congress, where delegates debated and revised the wording. Jefferson's draft was therefore not adopted unchanged, even though he is recognized as its principal author.

The Committee of Five also included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. Jefferson later served as the third president of the United States, but he was not the commander of the Revolutionary Army; that role belonged to George Washington.