What was the Committee of Five?
June 11, 1776 — The Continental Congress created the “committee of five,” who drafted the Declaration of Independence today.
It included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson — who, upon the committee’s request, wrote the first draft of the Declaration.
Did you know: The committee’s meetings were never recorded and much of the drafting process was left uncertain. Despite popular belief that there was one grand signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, the finished proof-copy was not finished until the following day. Due to the lack of documentation, the events that took place July 4 and 5 of 1776 have become one of the great myths in American history.
Sources
Words of Wisdom
Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances. That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.
