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On an unseasonably cool Thursday, July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress declared what its delegates had voted on just two days prior: total independence from King George III and Great Britain. In doing so, the founding fathers pushed back against tyranny, creating a new form of government whose power was to be derived only from the consent of those they govern. Their plan was for all citizens to be equal, and for all to have the right to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Radical at the time, the actions of men such as Adams, Franklin, and Jefferson paved the way for the United States Constitution just 13 years later, and what we know today as the longest standing democracy in the world.