Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness - Historical words that formed a nation

July 4th 2023.

A very special day in the history of mankind. A day that marked the rise of a group of men and women against an oppressive regime; a day that marked the courage shown by a group of people to stand up against tyranny; a day that marked the adaptation of a document which went on to become the starting point for a nation to be formed.

On July 4th, 1776, a small group of men in a hall in Philadelphia agreed to adopt a document written by one of the most visionary gentlemen of their time. That gentleman’s name was Thomas Jefferson, and he took 17 days to prepare that document. The words he used in the document were so profound and enigmatic that even today, after nearly 250 years, the literary geniuses of English call some of the expressions in that document as “one of the most well-known expressions in the English language”.

Thomas Jefferson started writing the document on June 11, 1776. Less than three weeks after he’d begun, he presented his draft to Congress. He was not pleased when Congress “mangled” his composition by cutting and changing much of his carefully chosen wording. He was especially sorry they removed the part blaming King George III, the then British monarch, for the slave trade, although he knew the time wasn’t right to deal with the issue.

On July 2, 1776, Congress voted to declare independence. Two days later, it ratified the text of the Declaration. John Dunlap, official printer to Congress, worked through the night to set the Declaration in type and print approximately 200 copies. These copies, known as the Dunlap Broadsides, were sent to various committees, assemblies, and commanders of the Continental troops. One copy crossed the Atlantic, reaching King George III months later. The official British response scolded the “misguided Americans” and “their extravagant and inadmissible Claim of Independency”. Only 35 of the 200 copies remain.

It was on July 19th that the document that Thomas Jefferson wrote was engraved on to a parchment which came to be known as the “Declaration of Independence”. This is on display at The National Archives Museum in Washington, DC. And just to be clear, for those who are fans of the National Treasure movies, there is no map at the back of the declaration of independence but only one line of text – “The Original Declaration of Independence July 4th 1776”

“….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….” – part of the second sentence in the Declaration of Independence and one of the most famous expressions ever written in the history of English language. Thomas Jefferson, who wrote this sentence, was not a great orator. However, what he lacked in speaking, he more than made up for in writing.

It is also worth noting that, due to an amazing coincidence, Thomas Jefferson, who went onto become the President of the United States, died on July 4th 1826, exactly on the same date when the nation was celebrating 50 years of independence.

Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness – if you think about it, are the three things all of us strive for even today. And it is but apt to remember and salute, on this day particularly, the courage and talent of the man who was able to put into words the feelings and desires of one whole nation.?