Who wrote most of the initial draft of the United States Declaration of Independence?

Thomas Jefferson wrote most of the initial draft of the United States Declaration of Independence.

Congress appointed the Committee of Five in June 1776 to prepare a document explaining the colonies’ decision to seek independence. The committee included Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. Adams helped persuade the group to assign the writing to Jefferson.

Jefferson drafted the document between June 11 and June 28, 1776, while staying in Philadelphia. The other committee members reviewed his work, and the Continental Congress made substantial edits during its debate. Congress shortened the text and removed several passages, including Jefferson’s criticism of the slave trade and slavery’s role in the colonies.

Calling Jefferson the sole author is therefore an oversimplification: he wrote the principal draft, but the final Declaration was a collective congressional document. It was adopted on July 4, 1776, and signed by 56 delegates.