Independence Day

On July 4, 1776 a group of activists from 13 colonies as diverse as Massachusetts and South Carolina, New York and Virginia, managed to agree long enough to sign one of the most radical documents in human history. An excerpt from the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is reproduced below. Click on today's Title to link with the entire document.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness -- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on the principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. ..."

Recommended on the subject: Beyond Bells and Bonfires, Philadelphia Inquirer:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20100702_Beyond_bells_and_bonfires.html