On July 4, 1776 the Continental Congress approved the final wording of the Declaration of Independence, representing the birth of the United States of America as an independent nation.
The sentiments in the second paragraph of the Declaration, arguing that the rights of man are natural, unreserved and not contingent upon the benevolence of the state, may seem morally intuitive now, but represented a quite heterodox, and indeed revolutionary, idea in its day.
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
It should be our hope that the values which America represents will inspire a genuine spring in lands not yet touched by its bounty.
