Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, the document at the center of America250.
Congress appointed the Committee of Five on June 11, 1776, to prepare a declaration. The committee included Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. Adams helped persuade the group to assign the principal drafting work to Jefferson.
Jefferson wrote the draft in Philadelphia between June 11 and June 28. The committee reviewed it, and the full Congress then made substantial edits before approving the final wording on July 4. Calling Jefferson the author does not mean he wrote every final sentence without changes; Congress removed and revised portions of his draft.
The Declaration’s authorship is distinct from its approval and signing. Congress adopted it as a collective act, and 56 delegates’ names appear on the engrossed parchment. Jefferson later became the third president of the United States.