A Draft Copy
On June 11, 1776, the Second Continental Congress entrusted a committee of five delegates (Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston and Roger Sherman) with composing the Declaration of Independence. The committee chose thirty-three year old Thomas Jefferson to draft what he called an expression of “the American mind.” Though he “turned to neither book or pamphlet,” Jefferson relied on his knowledge of philosophy as well as the sentiments of the Virginia Constitution, the Declaration of Rights and Richard Henry Lee’s resolution proposed to Congress on June 7. Jefferson later recalled, “I drew it; but before I reported it to the committee I communicated it separately to Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams requesting their corrections.” The revised copy was submitted to Congress on June 28, 1776.
The Extant (Existing) Documents
There are six extant drafts. Only one copy is referred to as the “original rough draft” with copy edits by Franklin, Adams and the Congress. It is located in the Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress. Four additional drafts were sent by Jefferson to colleagues and do not contain edits by Congress. Later, Jefferson also made his own notes on the Declaration debates and included them in his autobiography in 1821.
At Independence National Historical Park, look for...
...the exterior of the Declaration House at 7th and Market Streets. Jefferson and his enslaved servant Robert Hemings lived on this site when Jefferson drafted the famous document. Find the signs on the fences for more information about the house itself.
