Self-Evident truths By Hank Silverberg “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 ” Anyone who has graduated high school should recognize those words as the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. But over the last week, it has become clear that much of the Declaration, approved by the Continental Congress over several days in July of 1776, is a mystery to many Americans. Thomas Jefferson wrote it, borrowing heavily from political philosophers of the time. It was a compromise document with Jefferson changing John Locke’s “life, liberty and property,” to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” to broaden the concept and more likely to delay a continued debate over slavery. That would plague the new country for another 87 years. To many Americans, the words ar