One of the most striking things about the document that Americans celebrate with such gusto on July 4th is that so much of it is dull—hardly worthy of the tons of fireworks and barbecue that are sacrificed in its honour. There are lists of complaints about the administration of the courts and the quartering of British troops. There is an angry passage about King George's habit of summoning legislators "at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records". But all this tedium is more than made up for by a single sentence —the one about "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".
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