The Committee of Five

On June 11, 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed a committee of five delegates to prepare a formal declaration of independence. The selection of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston reflected the political calculations of a body that needed to present a united front across regional, ideological, and personal divisions. The committee’s brief existence—roughly three weeks in June 1776—produced the most consequential document in American history, yet the interactions among its members and their individual contributions have been the subject of considerable historical inquiry.

The Appointment

Political Context

The appointment of the committee followed Richard Henry Lee’s introduction of a resolution calling for independence on June 7, 1776. Congress, recognizing that a vote on independence was imminent, moved to prepare a document explaining the decision. The committee’s composition was shaped by several considerations: the need for geographic balance, the requirement that the document command broad support, and the practical reality that some of Congress’s most capable members were already occupied with other pressing business.

The vote for independence required the support of all thirteen colonies, and the committee needed to represent the major regions of the confederation. Virginia, the largest and most populous colony, was represented by Jefferson. Massachusetts, the center of revolutionary agitation, was represented by Adams. Pennsylvania, the host colony and a critical swing vote, was represented by Franklin. Connecticut, representing New England beyond Massachusetts, was represented by Sherman. New York, whose delegation remained cautious, was represented by Livingston.

Why These Five

The selection of each member reflected specific political and personal considerations. Jefferson, at thirty-three, was among the younger members of the committee. He had served in Congress since June 1775 and had established a reputation as an able writer and a thoughtful, if quiet, participant in debates. His Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774) had demonstrated his capacity for political argument, and his draft preamble for the Virginia constitution showed that he was already thinking about the philosophical foundations of independence. Jefferson was also acceptable to both radical and moderate factions in Congress, lacking the abrasive qualities that made some revolutionary leaders divisive.

Adams, forty years old and a member of Congress since 1774, was the committee’s most ardent advocate for independence. He had been arguing for separation from Britain since early 1775 and had written extensively on the subject in both public and private correspondence. Adams was also one of Congress’s hardest-working members, serving on numerous committees and managing much of the body’s military and diplomatic business. His selection ensured that the committee included a delegate who understood the strategic imperatives driving the push for independence.

Franklin, at seventy the oldest and most famous member of the committee, brought international reputation and diplomatic experience. He had returned from London in 1775 after a decade as colonial agent and had quickly aligned himself with the independence movement. Franklin’s scientific fame, his network of European contacts, and his literary skill made him an invaluable member of any committee. His presence lent the committee an authority that no other delegate could have provided.

Roger Sherman of Connecticut, fifty-five, was a merchant, surveyor, and self-taught lawyer who had served in colonial and provincial politics for decades. Sherman was known for his practical judgment and his ability to bridge ideological divides. He was the only member of the committee who would go on to sign all four of the great founding documents: the Articles of Association (1774), the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Articles of Confederation (1777), and the United States Constitution (1787).

Robert R. Livingston of New York, twenty-nine, was the youngest member of the committee and the scion of one of New York’s most powerful families. His selection reflected the need to involve New York’s political establishment in the independence movement, even as the colony’s delegation remained divided on the question. Livingston would later serve as the first Chancellor of New York and would administer the oath of office to George Washington at his first inauguration.

The Committee’s Work

Division of Labor

The committee met shortly after its appointment and decided that Jefferson would prepare the initial draft. The reasons for this decision have been debated by historians. Adams later recalled that he had urged Jefferson to take the lead because Jefferson was a Virginian, was less unpopular than Adams in Congress, and was a better writer. Jefferson recalled the matter differently, claiming that the committee had simply appointed him without discussion. The truth likely lies somewhere between these accounts: Adams’s advocacy probably played a role, but Jefferson’s qualifications were evident to all members.

Franklin and Sherman were occupied with other congressional business during the drafting period. Franklin was serving on a committee to draft the Articles of Confederation and was also involved in diplomatic preparations. Sherman was engaged in military supply matters and Treasury business. Livingston was frequently absent, partly because the New York delegation was under instructions not to vote on any question of independence without further authorization from the provincial congress.

The Drafting Period

Jefferson worked on the draft during the third week of June 1776, writing at his lodgings on Market Street. He produced at least one rough draft before preparing the version he showed to Adams and Franklin. The committee as a whole reviewed Jefferson’s draft, though the precise nature of the committee’s deliberations is not well documented. Adams and Franklin made suggestions, which Jefferson incorporated into a revised draft that was submitted to Congress on June 28.

The committee’s work was conducted under considerable time pressure. Congress had scheduled the vote on Lee’s independence resolution for July 1, and the committee needed to have a declaration ready for consideration immediately after the vote. This compressed timeline meant that the committee had little opportunity for extended deliberation or for seeking input from delegates outside the committee.

Individual Contributions

Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson’s contribution was, by any measure, the most substantial. He composed the entire initial draft, drawing upon his reading in natural rights philosophy, his prior political writings, and the language of the state and local declarations that had been produced in the preceding months. Jefferson’s particular genius lay in his ability to synthesize diverse sources into a coherent and rhetorically powerful document. His prose, while influenced by the periodic sentences of classical and Enlightenment writers, achieved a directness and emotional force that was distinctly his own.

Jefferson’s draft was more extensive than the final version, including a lengthy condemnation of the slave trade that was later deleted by Congress. His original phrasing was occasionally more ornate than the final text: where the adopted Declaration speaks of “absolute Tyranny,” Jefferson’s draft used the phrase “unremitting tyranny.” These differences, while seemingly minor, reveal Jefferson’s tendency toward rhetorical intensification that his editors sometimes moderated.

John Adams

Adams’s contribution to the drafting process was less textual than political. He was the committee’s most forceful advocate for independence and had been building the case for separation in Congress for more than a year. Adams’s role was to ensure that the Declaration’s arguments reflected the political and strategic realities facing the colonies. He also served as Jefferson’s defender when Congress debated the draft, though he was not always an effective advocate for Jefferson’s specific language choices.

Adams later expressed some regret that he had not written the Declaration himself, though he also acknowledged that Jefferson was the better stylist. In a letter to Timothy Pickering in 1822, Adams recalled urging Jefferson to take the task on the grounds that Jefferson was a Virginian, was more popular than Adams in Congress, and was a superior writer. Adams’s account, written nearly fifty years after the event, is not entirely reliable, but it reveals his complex feelings about his role in the Declaration’s creation.

Benjamin Franklin

Franklin’s most significant contribution was editorial rather than compositional. His change of “sacred and undeniable” to “self-evident” was a philosophical intervention of the first importance, shifting the Declaration’s epistemological foundation from religious assertion to rationalist philosophy. Franklin’s long experience as a writer, printer, and diplomat gave him an instinct for language that was both precise and persuasive.

Franklin also contributed to the committee’s deliberations through his personal authority and experience. As the most internationally renowned American, Franklin understood how the Declaration would be received in European courts. His diplomatic sensibility likely influenced the document’s emphasis on the “opinions of mankind” and its careful attention to the forms of international law.

Roger Sherman

Sherman’s role in the committee’s work is the least well documented of the five members. He apparently participated in the committee’s discussions and may have suggested specific changes to the draft, but no record of his contributions survives. Sherman’s strength was his practical judgment and his ability to assess the political implications of proposed language. His experience in Connecticut politics and his understanding of the concerns of smaller colonies may have influenced the committee’s attention to the interests of less populous states.

Sherman would later play a significant role in the Constitutional Convention of 1787, where he is sometimes credited with proposing the Connecticut Compromise that resolved the dispute over representation in Congress.

Robert R. Livingston

Livingston’s participation in the committee was limited by his colony’s political situation. New York’s delegation had been instructed not to vote on independence without further authorization, and Livingston was therefore in an awkward position: he could participate in drafting a declaration but could not commit his colony to supporting it. Livingston did not sign the Declaration when it was adopted, as he had been recalled to New York before the signing took place. He later claimed that he would have signed had he been present, though some historians have questioned whether his political views at the time were sufficiently committed to independence.

Livingston went on to serve as the first United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation and later negotiated the Louisiana Purchase as American minister to France.

The Committee After the Declaration

The Committee of Five effectively dissolved after presenting its draft to Congress on June 28. The subsequent editing of the Declaration was conducted by Congress sitting as a committee of the whole, and the committee members had no special role in the final revisions. Jefferson, deeply wounded by the extensive editing of his draft, found some consolation in the support of Adams and Franklin, both of whom praised the document’s substance even as they accepted the necessity of revisions.

The five men’s subsequent careers reflected the diverse paths taken by the revolutionary generation. Jefferson served as governor of Virginia, minister to France, secretary of state, and president. Adams served as vice president and president, and his son John Quincy Adams would also become president. Franklin spent the war years in Paris as American commissioner, negotiating the French Alliance and the Treaty of Paris, before returning to Philadelphia to participate in the Constitutional Convention. Sherman served in the Confederation Congress and the Constitutional Convention. Livingston served as Chancellor of New York and as a diplomat.

Historical Assessment

Historians have generally agreed that the Committee of Five was well chosen and that its composition contributed significantly to the Declaration’s success. The inclusion of delegates from different regions ensured that the document would command broad support. The presence of Franklin and Adams, two of the most respected figures in American public life, lent the committee credibility. Jefferson’s selection as drafter, whether by design or by default, proved to be one of the most consequential personnel decisions in American history.

The committee’s work also illustrates the collaborative nature of the Declaration’s creation. While Jefferson was the principal author, the document was shaped by the editorial contributions of Adams and Franklin, by the political judgment of Sherman and Livingston, and by the subsequent revisions of Congress. The Declaration was, in this sense, a collective product—a statement that reflected not one man’s philosophy but the shared convictions and strategic calculations of a political community facing an existential decision. This collaborative process, explored further in the account of drafting the Declaration, was characteristic of the revolutionary generation’s approach to political decision-making: deliberative, contentious, and ultimately oriented toward consensus.

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