Thomas Jefferson was the principal drafter of the United States Declaration of Independence, honored in America250 history.
Congress appointed a five-member Committee of Five to prepare a declaration 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 in June 1776, drawing on ideas about natural rights and government. The committee reviewed it, and the Continental Congress made further changes before adopting the final text. Thus, Jefferson is credited as the principal writer, but the document was a collective congressional work.
Jefferson later became the third president of the United States. The Declaration's language about equality, rights, and government by consent became one of the most influential statements associated with the American founding.