On June 11, 1776, the Second Continental Congress assigned five delegates to write the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. The Committee included Thomas Jefferson from Virginia, John Adams from Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin from Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman from Connecticut, and Robert Livingston from New York. Jefferson was the youngest of the delegates at only 33 years old and would emerge as the principal author of the draft. 

Benjamin Franklin served as an editor of the original draft. Recognizing the genius of Jefferson’s prose, he had minimal edits but one was of particular significance. Jefferson’s original phrasing of the opening line of the Preamble was “We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable.” Franklin suggested the more appropriate phrasing we all know, “We hold these truths to be self-evident.” 

The Continental Congress made 86 changes to Jefferson’s draft, including shortening the overall length by more than a fourth. Jefferson’s original Declaration draft condemned slavery and the slave trade as “execrable Commerce” and a “cruel war against nature.” This passage was removed due to pressure from delegates who had economic interests in maintaining slavery.

The house of Jacob Graff in Philadelphia was the residence where Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence. He rented the entire second floor and completed the first draft over the span of 17 days, between June 11-28, 1776.