Who wrote the principal draft of the document celebrated by America250?

Thomas Jefferson wrote the principal draft of the Declaration of Independence celebrated by America250.

Jefferson was chosen in June 1776 to serve on a five-person committee preparing a declaration. The committee included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston, but Jefferson produced the main draft.

The draft was reviewed by the committee and then debated by the Continental Congress. Congress made changes before adopting the final document, so describing Jefferson as its principal drafter is more precise than saying he alone wrote every word of the final version.

Jefferson later became the third president of the United States. His authorship is sometimes confused with the roles of Adams and Franklin, who helped revise and support the document, or George Washington, who was leading the Continental Army rather than drafting the declaration.