The On Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness

  Have any of you guys wonder why the Colonists went to war with England? Well most people say it is for freedom. Others say it was for economic rights. Well, they are half right. The colonists fought in the Revolutionary war for civil liberties. After the French and Indian war England had a big debt from the war. They needed a way to pay all the debt. So they taxed all the Colonists to get money. The Colonists were furious about these acts and taxes. They refuse to pay these taxes, England was getting angry with the colonists, so they put Intolerable Acts on the colonists. Intolerable Acts are acts that are hard to endure and offensive. The Colonists had enough of England pushing them around,so

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness— these were the unalienable rights our forefathers bestowed upon our new nation when drafting the Declaration of Independence; what a far cry from independent our nation has become. Our forefathers guaranteed life and freedom, and the pursuit of happiness; happiness was not a guarantee, but set forth as a challenge for every individual to define and actively pursue for themselves. Surely, when our forefathers declared independence from an oppressive and overbearing king they did not intend for the American Government to become a maternal state that coddles its citizens. Sadly, we have become just that: a nation of citizens dependent upon our government for everything from putting food in our stomachs, to saving money for our retirement.

During the next few years the Bill of Rights began to be accepted by the

The promises of the American Revolution were that people would not have their civil liberties violates and people were born to be free and equal what ever classes you were in. It promised that the social levels would be abolished with assigned new roles and rights to the lower level. The people could control the government, which means that the laws and the system of the government were completely democratic. Besides that, it’s the government’s job to protect the right of people. People can change a government whenever it didn’t meet the needs of them.

2. They felt the national government was too far away from the people and therefore couldn't be monitored by them

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These are the three rights granted to every American, however, this did not seem to apply to the poor during the Gilded Age. The poor lacked opportunities to climb the ladder of social class to escape poverty, and the wealth of America was so concentrated in an individual few that one man, J.P. Morgan, was able to end the Financial Panic of 1893, preventing an economic depression. The rich were getting richer and the poor were getting poorer. The disparity between the wealthy and those facing poverty was ever growing, which makes one question, what should be done, if anything at all? This was a major problem during the time and was the topic of many debates. Figures like William Graham Sumner,

When the colonists came from Great Britain, they didn't have much knowledge on how to run a strong government. They first created the Articles of Confederation, but it didn't last very long. In the middle of the 1776, in Philadelphia, the people had chosen to have the Continental Congress meeting. During this meeting they discussed how they would like to declare independence from Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson had taken on the role of writing the Declaration of Independence.

One might ask the importance of civil liberties after so many years. The answer is that we are all touched by these liberties every day. Even though civil liberties were embedded into the Bill of Rights in the late 1800’s, we today, as Americans, still have the right to be protected against any abusive power used by the government (Bianco & Canon, 2015, p. 106). Although Americans are protected fully today, it took over a century for all civil liberties to be implemented. With several civil liberties in place, which is most important? Which liberty protects us as Americans, most significantly? I believe all of our civil liberties are equally as beneficial and lead to the safety of every citizen in the United

Life… Liberty… and the pursuit of happiness. The 3 things that we, as Americans all share, and that itself, cannot be taken away from us, unalienable rights, as you would put it. But, what are these things, and what do they mean. Today, I will go in depth of what they actually are.

The unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are mentioned in the Declaration as concepts that all humans possess from their creator. Our central focus of liberty is what makes this country so unique. “I believe in a system of government that places liberty at the center of its concerns.” (Doc B). The reason it is so impactful that liberty is our main fixation is because it gives all citizens the right maintain their own lives and achieve their own goals.

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” is a phrase nearly every American knows as being the three unalienable rights that cannot be revoked by the government. These self-evident truths first appeared in the Declaration of Independence, a document written to rid the United States from its torrid oppressors. Liberty, however, is the most important of the three, seeing as if American did not have it, residents would simply be slaves to their government and could not be truly free-thinking citizens.

France’s, The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, played an integral role in the development of democracy and the pursuit of liberty throughout Europe. This document was written and introduced by General Lafayette as a result of the French Revolution. The French Constituent Assembly passed it in August of 1789. Influenced by Thomas Jefferson, the American Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution, and the ideas of the Enlightenment philosophers, the document reiterates the values of the French Revolution. Declaring that the rights of man should be universal and remain valid no matter the time or place. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was a very purposeful document expressing many of the ideas of the French Revolution and the Declaration of Independence.

Freedom to choose has been a core idea of America since its founding, or even its discovery. Whether they were pilgrims trying to create a puritan paradise in the new world, or a settler for a joint-stock company, people came because they wanted to choose their own way to happiness. This choice is where their freedom came from. Even according to the constitution, people should be able to choose how to pursue happiness without interference from others.

In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville’s memorable claim that there is an incredible tension between liberty and equality in America is certainly true. His secondary argument is equally justifiable—that Democratic nations, especially American, will grow to love equality more “ardently and enduringly” than liberty (Tocqueville, 202), and can be proved by observing current American political patterns and events.

We have the ability to choose what pleases us, that’s what Thomas Jefferson and many other writers were fighting for in the writing of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence is a document that was adopted in 1776 that established the United States as its own nation. The purpose of writing this document was to inform the abusive King George as to why the colonies were leaving England. Jefferson elaborates on the corruption of the King by listing his 27 accused abuses throughout the document. These misdeeds included intruding on the right of the colonists to have their own government, instating legislation without consent of the colonies, and refusal to pass necessary laws. King George restricted the freedom to pursue happiness and individuality, thus restricting true happiness. Jefferson also made some very valid points in the Declaration including his famous words that exclaim that all men are born with rights that cannot be denied, and among these are “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. Everyone knows this quote, but how many truly understand its meaning? Jefferson is saying that every human has the natural right to live freely and that people have a right to hunt for their own bliss. Somewhere in the time between then and now this very clear and distinct idea got muddled. People now think that there is only one uniform source of happiness. The undeniable truth of the matter is while many believe that the happiness of the human race can only be gained by one true source, any amount of contentment can be acquired depending simply on the preferences of an individual, being that every person finds happiness from different