Who was the main writer of the Declaration of Independence?

Thomas Jefferson was the main writer of the Declaration of Independence.

In June 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed the Committee of Five to prepare a formal explanation of separation from Great Britain. The committee included Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. Although Adams and Franklin helped shape the project, Jefferson produced the principal draft.

Jefferson wrote largely in isolation between June 11 and June 28, 1776, while staying in Philadelphia. The other committee members reviewed his work, and Congress then edited the text during debate. Those revisions shortened the draft and removed, among other passages, Jefferson's criticism of the British slave trade and slavery-related policies.

A common mix-up is crediting Franklin or Adams as the author because both were influential committee members. They contributed revisions and political guidance, but Jefferson is recognized as the Declaration's primary author. Congress adopted the finished document on July 4, 1776; the famous engrossed copy was signed by delegates chiefly on August 2, though some signatures came later.