Thomas Jefferson largely drafted the United States Declaration of Independence, the document celebrated by America250.
Congress appointed the Committee of Five on June 11, 1776, to prepare a declaration. The committee included Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. Jefferson wrote the main draft, which the committee reviewed before presenting it to Congress.
Congress then edited the text during several days of debate. Members removed some passages, shortened others, and approved the final wording on July 4. Jefferson therefore was the principal drafter, but the finished document was a congressional work rather than a text adopted unchanged from his manuscript.
Jefferson later became the third president of the United States. Adams and Franklin also became presidents, while Sherman and Livingston held major political offices but never served as president.