Who wrote most of the Declaration of Independence adopted by the Continental Congress in 1776?

Thomas Jefferson wrote most of the Declaration of Independence adopted by the Continental Congress in 1776.

Congress appointed a five-member drafting committee consisting of Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. The committee selected Jefferson to prepare the initial draft, which he wrote in June 1776. The other committee members and Congress reviewed and edited the text before approval.

Jefferson therefore was the principal author, but the document was a congressional product rather than a document he adopted alone. Congress made substantial changes, including removing passages concerning the slave trade and slavery. The Declaration announced separation from Great Britain and explained the political principles used to justify independence.