Five men were named to a committee on June 11, 1776 to draft a document explaining the grievances against Great Britain. This document would become the Declaration of Independence. The committee members were Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. However, Jefferson took on the task of actually writing the document. Franklin and the committee helped with revisions and then the entire Continental Congress went through and debated the document to refine it to the final copy that was officially adopted on July 4, 1776.
For an entertaining dramatization of this historic event, check out the musical, 1776. Here’s a clip: But Mr. Adams