Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, central to the founding era recalled by America250.
In June 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed a Committee of Five to prepare a statement explaining the colonies’ decision to separate from Great Britain. The committee included Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.
Jefferson wrote the initial draft, drawing on political ideas about natural rights and government by consent. The committee reviewed it, and Congress subsequently edited the text before adopting it on July 4, 1776. Therefore, Jefferson was the principal author, but he was not the document’s only contributor.
Another common confusion is between authorship and signing. Jefferson signed the declaration as a Virginia delegate, while 55 other delegates also signed the engrossed document. The declaration’s famous language made Jefferson one of the best-known figures associated with America’s founding.