Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of
The Declaration of Independence was the first effective such document in modern times. Though not part of the Constitution nor formally adopted as national law after the Constitution, it has been imbedded in the law through tradition as well as numerous court decisions. The phrase chosen as our subject is probably the most basic and famous one in the Declaration, and it has evoked a massive body of comment in court decisions and in critical literature. While life and liberty have been largely accepted as given then and continuously ratified from the French Revolution onward, the “pursuit of happiness” has occasioned both discussion and argument.