On this day, 250 years ago, the United States came into being, its birth proclaimed in a ringing document that not only asserted its independence but became a majestic milestone in human history.

A simple listing of the grievances which had aroused Americans to armed rebellion against the British crown would have sufficed to justify the decision to sever the bonds between colonies and mother country.

Our Declaration of Independence does contain just such a detailed indictment of Great Britain’s rule. But its special character, its assured claim to immortality, rests on the soaring passage which Thomas Jefferson and his fellow signers addressed to their fellow countrymen, the contemporary world and all future generations of mankind:

“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,........

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