"WE hold these Truths to be self-evident: that all Men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with inherent and* [certain] inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness: that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, & to institute new government, laying it's foundation on such principles, & organizing it's powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety & happiness."

What does this mean to you?

tyrants not welcome?

that i should be able to get a 1,000 ounce soda and give myself diabetes if i want to?

Fun trivia: while most of that is T.J., there were a few minor edits that are part of this final version that were really the other founding fathers. Jefferson's original text said "We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable" and that we're "endowed by [our] Creator with _inherent and inalienable_ rights.

Not that this is a terrible significant change here, but I teach the D of I in American Lit, and my textbook includes both Jefferson's original text as well as the changes that the founding fathers made.

Very nice.

That's interesting Twain. That's very interesting. Which Text Book are you using, if I may ask?

http://www.amazon.com/...es+in+American+Literature

That's a link to it.

The more interesting parts that were edited come later on. TJ had a huge section on how slavery was bad (which was cut for obvious reasons of wanting to keep all the colonies united) as well as some much more inflammatory statements towards the King and towards the British people.

All stuff I didn't know until I went back to teaching American Lit this year, so it's been a bit of a learning experience for me as well.

Pricey book. Man, those damned publishers are really raking it in off the student population, essentially hostages if I recall correctly. Been a long time since schooling was completed.

This one's exacerbated by being an old book that's probably out of print, being a 1996 copyright.

Man, that's hardcore. I would hope they have updated the curriculum to call for a more recent text.

I've been reading up on the civil war. I think in a way it was comming since the american revolution and a real failiure to address the issue then. Although it's possible that stalling certain things might have brought an end to slavery for other economic reasons (growing lack of demand for southern cotton abroad).
Jefferson was somewhat at odds with some of the other founding fathers from what I gather and was probably the most enlightened by todays standards.

Also some of that stuff was born from the french revolution.
:P

That's an interesting way to look at it, martian, and I think you're probably right about the civil war simmering since the revolution and the failure to address the problem of slavery then. Although, I'm convinced that the civil war was more about economics rather than an opposition to slavery, although the New Englanders were more than willing to seize on such hallmark sentiment to assist their side of the war.

Have you read the novel Gettysburg, co authored by Newt Gingrich? It's an awesome novel, I will have to someday write to old Newt and apologize for many years of evil feelings towards him due to many bonehead political decisions that he has made.

LOL, Do you know Newt Gingrich also wrote a book called 1945?

I do now. :) Tx, I'll be sure to look it up. :)