The Declaration of Independence: A Concise History

"We hold these truths to be self-evident" begins the Declaration of Independence.This is one of the most quoted lines in American history, but where did "these truths" come from? And what do they mean to Americans today? The Declaration of Independence is one of the world's most important historical documents.It has been lauded by generations of historians as "American scripture" and the "American version of the Magna Carta," but the Declaration began its life as a press release, intended to serve an immediate purpose, after which it was stored with no special care alongside the rest of the records of the Continental Congress.Its creators could not have anticipated that it would become one of the most iconic symbols of the Revolution they were waging and the nation they were building.During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, however, the Declaration would begin to assume its place in the mythos and civic religion of the United States.It provided Americans with a shared political l