Thomas Jefferson - Declaration Drafter

The Declaration Committee assigned the task of drafting a document to Thomas Jefferson, from Virginia.  Known as a very good writer, Jefferson accepted the task although he wanted to be in Virginia, working on that state's constitution. 

Drawing on the works of John Locke and other documents (such as the Virginia Declaration of Rights and his own draft of a constitution for Virginia), Jefferson:

...wrote a stunning statement of the colonists' right to rebel against the British government and establish their own based on the premise that all men are created equal and have the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Credits

Portrait of Jefferson by Charles Willson Peale, 1791. 

Image, Library of Congress.

Quote from Library of Congress web site, Thomas Jefferson Exhibition.