Thomas Jefferson was the principal drafter of the 1776 United States Declaration of Independence.
Congress appointed Jefferson to the Committee of Five, the group tasked with preparing a declaration after the Lee Resolution passed. The committee also included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. Jefferson wrote the initial draft, which the committee revised before presenting it to Congress.
Congress edited the document during debate in late June and early July. The final text was adopted on July 4, 1776. Jefferson’s draft supplied the declaration’s structure and many of its most famous political arguments, including the claim that governments derive their authority from the consent of the governed.
Jefferson was not the only contributor, and he did not personally write every word of the final version. The Committee of Five and Congress shaped the document together. That distinction helps separate the principal drafter from the broader group responsible for the finished Declaration.