In May 1776, Virginia took the lead in asking delegates to the Continental Congress to propose a complete separation of America from Great Britain. Virginia took the lead as British and American forces had already clashed at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. The Revolutionary War began in the spring of 1775, but without official documentation, America wanted to secede from Great Britain. As the war raged, many state and local committees in the thirteen former colonies were busy drafting resolutions and manifestos in favor of independence. In June 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed the resolution "That these United Colonies are, and should be, Free and Independent States." The vote on Lee's resolution did not take place until July 1, out of respect for delegations that were divided or needed to confer with the respective colonial legislatures for advice. In the meantime, the delegates appointed a committee to draft a document containing Lee's resolution so that, once approved, Congress could proceed without interruption to publishing the decision. The committee formed consisted of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, John Adams and Roger Sherman. The committee assigned the drafting of the document to John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, and then Adams gave it to Jefferson. Jefferson quickly wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence and showed it to Adams and Franklin. Adams later claimed it only took him a "day or two." Adams and Franklin made only a few revisions to the document. On June 28, after revisions, the commission submitted the document to Congress. A few days passed after Congress obtained Lee's resolution; Congress passed...... middle of paper...... Independence, Congress called it a public document that expressed all American views on British control. Congress didn't say who wrote the bill, it only cared about what was in it because Congress made many changes. I agree with Pauline Maier. Jefferson is the one who wrote the original version. Jefferson only did what he was told to do. Yes, he used other people's ideas, like Lee's regarding the resolution. Jefferson used Lee and Adams' ideas simply to put them on paper. But the entire document was written in Jefferson's words and his words only. By the time the final draft of the Declaration of Independence was copied and mailed around the world, there were so many changes that the work was no longer even Jefferson's, it was the declaration of Congress. Delcaré? Boston: Bedford/St. that of Martin, 1999.