Who Was the Main Author of the Declaration of Independence?

By Staff WriterLast Updated December 08, 2023

Thomas Jefferson is considered to be the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, according to America’s Library, of the Library of Congress. Jefferson wrote the draft that was considered by the Continental Congress between June 11 and 28, 1776.

Jefferson was part of a five-man committee that was appointed by the Continental Congress and asked to produce the document. The rest of the committee consisted of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston. Borrowing ideas that he had read in several documents such as the Virginia Declaration of Rights, Jefferson wrote the words that would help create the United States of America.