A committee was appointed by congress to draft a statement to England declaring that the

colonies were free, independent states. The committee was Thomas Jefferson, John

Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. Thomas Jefferson

drafted most of the Declaration. The preamble of the Declaration tells why the document was needed. The second part they tell the colonists’ main opinions about the government. In the third and largest part of the declaration, Jefferson wrote the colonists’ complaints against Parliament. In the last part of the document he wrote that America was free. On July 4^th, 1776, congress signed the Declaration of Independence. That’s why on July 4^th, every one celebrates by shooting fireworks. Some people call it Independence Day because of its history. John Hancock, president of Congress, was the first signer- and he signed it so large the king could read it without his glasses. In the end, the Declaration of Independence gave the thirteen colonies freedom.