Thomas Jefferson drafted the principal text of the Declaration of Independence, whose adoption is commemorated by America250.
The Second Continental Congress appointed a five-member drafting committee in June 1776. It included Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. The committee selected Jefferson to prepare the initial draft, which Congress then debated and revised.
Jefferson was 33 years old when he wrote the draft. His prose drew on Enlightenment ideas about natural rights and legitimate government, while the final document also reflected Congress’s political decisions and edits.
Jefferson did not write every word exactly as it appears in the final Declaration. Congress removed and changed passages, including material concerning slavery and the slave trade. John Adams and Benjamin Franklin were influential committee members, but Jefferson is recognized as the document’s principal drafter.