Committee of Five

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The Committee of Five was the group delegated by the Second Continental Congress on June 11, 1776 to draft the United States Declaration of Independence.

Contents 1 Members 2 Deliberations 3 See also 4 Notes 5 External links

[edit] Members

The committee consisted of:

• John Adams of Massachusetts
• Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania
• Thomas Jefferson of Virginia
• Robert R. Livingston of New York
• Roger Sherman of Connecticut

[edit] Deliberations

According to Jefferson:

"The Committee of 5 met, no such thing as a sub-committee was proposed, but they unanimously pressed on myself alone to undertake the draught. I consented; I drew it; but before I reported it to the committee I communicated it separately to Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams requesting their corrections;. . . Their alterations were two or three only, and merely verbal. I then wrote a fair copy, reported it to the committee, and from them, unaltered to the Congress." ^[1]

[edit] See also

• Founding Fathers of the United States
• History of the United States

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Letter to James Madison, August 30, 1823. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson

[edit] External links

• Declaration of Independence at the National Archives website.