My favorite Founding Father just happens to be a cousin from my father's line (Yea, Dad!)
Of all the founding fathers, Franklin has the unique distinction of having signed all three of the major documents that freed the colonies from British rule and established the United States as an independent nation: the Declaration of Independence, The Treaty of Paris, and the United States Constitution.
In 1776, Franklin was appointed by the Continental Congress to a committee charged with drafting a formal document to justify the colonies' decision of severing political ties with Britain. The other members of the committee included Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman. The committee gave Jefferson the task of writing the first draft. Franklin, although a talented writer, took a back seat in drafting the document, blaming his lack of participation on poor health.
Jefferson sent his finished draft to Franklin for review. Franklin put on his editor's hat, but made only a few slight changes to Jefferson's prose. When the draft was submitted to Congress, however, sentence after sentence was either deleted or changed, much to the dismay of Jefferson.
Jefferson's "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence
After several drafts, Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The actual document was not signed until August, when Benjamin Franklin signed his name along with the fifty-five other representatives of the thirteen colonies.
The Final Draft - The Declaration of Independence
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