who wrote declaration of independence

The primary author of the Declaration of Independence was Thomas Jefferson. He was appointed by the Committee of Five, which included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman, to write the first draft of the document. Jefferson wrote the draft mostly by himself between June 11 and June 28, 1776, drawing on various sources and his own ideas. Afterward, the draft was reviewed and edited by the committee members and then by the full Continental Congress before its adoption on July 4, 1776.