Independence Day

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.

-- Opening lines of the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, adopted by the Continental Congress on 4 July 1776