This article is part of a series focusing on Lens of Liberty, a project of the Vernon K. Krieble Foundation. “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.” These three inalienable rights acknowledged in the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence form the basis of the American notion of freedom. Although they slightly changed the wording of the third right from “property” to “pursuit of Happiness,” the Founders were strongly influenced by
