Thomas Jefferson drafted the principal text of the Declaration of Independence, central to the America250 commemoration.
In June 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed a five-member Committee of Five to prepare a declaration. The committee included Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. Jefferson wrote the initial draft, which the committee reviewed before presenting it to Congress.
Congress edited the document during debates in late June and early July. One famous omission was Jefferson’s condemnation of the transatlantic slave trade, which delegates removed. The final declaration therefore differs from Jefferson’s original draft, even though he is recognized as its principal author.
Jefferson was 33 years old in 1776 and represented Virginia in Congress. The document’s language about equality and natural rights became especially influential, although its promises were not extended equally to all people at the time. America250 highlights both the declaration’s founding importance and its complicated historical context.