Thomas Jefferson wrote most of the original draft of the Declaration of Independence.
Congress appointed the five-member Committee of Five on June 11, 1776, to prepare a declaration. The committee included Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. The members selected Jefferson to produce the initial draft.
Jefferson wrote the draft in Philadelphia between June 11 and June 28, 1776. The committee reviewed it and presented a revised version to Congress. Congress then debated the text and removed or changed portions before approving the final document.
Jefferson was not the only person involved in creating the Declaration. Adams and Franklin offered suggestions, while Congress made substantial edits. One passage condemning the transatlantic slave trade was removed during the congressional revisions, illustrating that the final text was a collective political document.