John Adams helped in producing the written work the Declaration of Independence.
John Adams . He assisted Thomas Jefferson in drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776 , and was its foremost advocate in the Congress . The Declaration of Independence is the statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at the Pennsylvania State House ( Independence Hall ) in Philadelphia on July 4 , 1776 , which announced that the thirteen American colonies , then at war with the Kingdom of Great Britain , regarded themselves as thirteen newly independent sovereign states , and no longer under British rule . John Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document , which Congress would edit to produce the final version .