Who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence?

Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence.

Jefferson drafted the document in June 1776 as a member of the Committee of Five appointed by the Second Continental Congress. The committee also included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.

The committee reviewed Jefferson's draft, and Congress later debated and edited it before adoption. Jefferson therefore wrote the main text, but the final document was a product of congressional revision rather than the work of one person alone.

The Declaration combines political arguments with a list of grievances against King George III. Its opening discussion of natural rights became especially influential, while its political purpose was to justify the colonies' separation from Great Britain.