Who was the principal drafter of the United States Declaration of Independence?

Thomas Jefferson was the principal drafter of the United States Declaration of Independence.

The Second Continental Congress appointed a Committee of Five to prepare the document. The committee included Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. Jefferson wrote the initial draft, which the committee and Congress then reviewed and amended.

Congress adopted the Declaration on July 4, 1776. Its opening argument presents natural rights and the idea that governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed. The document then lists grievances against King George III and explains the colonies’ decision to separate from Great Britain.

Jefferson’s role does not mean he wrote the final text without revision. Congress removed and altered portions, including a lengthy passage criticizing the transatlantic slave trade. Franklin and Adams were influential members of the drafting committee, but Jefferson is conventionally identified as the Declaration’s principal author.