The Declaration of Independence
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.This, the second sentence in the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence, has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language." .....
It remains to this day the most profound, self-evident, and—to sovereigns everywhere, the most gut-wrenching—sentence ever penned and declared by the citizenry of any country. It is without a doubt the most important, straightforward, powerful statement ever set forth of the God-given, sovereign rights of a citizenry.
It has often been used to promote the rights of powerless, downtrodden peoples the world-over, and has come to represent the moral standard the United States should daily vigorously fight to attain. This view was greatly influenced by Abraham Lincoln. He considered the Declaration of Independence to be the foundation of his political philosophy, and promoted the idea that it was a statement of principles through which the Constitution of the United States should be interpreted.
Thomas Jefferson not only wrote that sentence, he wrote every word in the Declaration of Independence in two days!!.... Using, as he said later, neither book nor pamphlet, he produced a stunning statement of the colonists' right to rebel against King George III and the British Parliament, and establish their own.
Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence was edited by his follow committeemen, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. They made a few minor changes. Then he, and the four other members of the five-man committee appointed by the Congress to prepare the declaration, presented the Jefferson’s edited draft to the Continental Congress for its consideration. The Congress shortened some passages and eliminated others that some members found objectionable. Still, the Declaration of Independence was Jefferson’s and its elegance came from his heart and mind, and no other. It was finally agreed upon unanimously by the Continental Congress.
It had been left to Thomas Jefferson to start the thirteen united States of America on their way by giving them a seemingly impossible task. He took John Locke’s triad of human rights; life, liberty and property—Jefferson replaced property with “the pursuit of happiness”—
and gave the thirteen united States of America a task such as no other civilization had ever dared to set forth as a goal of its people. ......And the rest, as they say, is history.
