Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, the document commemorated by America250.
In June 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed a five-member drafting committee. The committee included Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston, but Jefferson wrote the principal draft.
Congress debated and edited the text before adopting it on July 4, 1776. The document explained why the thirteen colonies were separating from Great Britain and presented arguments about natural rights and government.
Jefferson's authorship does not mean he wrote the Declaration entirely without assistance. The committee reviewed his draft, and Congress made substantial revisions. Franklin and Adams offered suggestions, while the final wording belonged to Congress rather than Jefferson alone.