Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1993. [Vol. 1.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 21)

STUDIES - András Tarnóc: "Jefferson Still Survives".

pendence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom and Father of the University of Virginia".

4 Unarguably the Declaration of Independence is Thomas Jefferson's most significant achievement. While on the surface the Declaration appears to be a lawyerly brief explaining the causes of America's separation from Britain, the text assured a place for its author among the immortals of human history. Whereas the Declaration is addressed to the British King, it has a greater audience as well, humanity. The famous opening line: "When in the course of human events ..." removes the conflict from a British

— American context and emphasizes its cosmopolitan significance.

5 The need for independence arises from natural law as freedom and equality are natural rights guaranteed by God. The well-known next paragraph is the expression of the American Ideal. In Jefferson's and consequently all Americans' view humans are equal and possess inalienable natural rights; the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Should a government entrusted by the people to protect these rights refuse to carry out this responsibility, it can be removed from power. According to Norton the Declaration is the pinnacle of Anglo-Saxon and American political thinking. Jefferson's ideas are based on the Mayflower Compact, Hobbes' "Leviathan" and Locke's "Two Treatises of Government"

. When Jefferson declares "these self evident truths" he speaks to everyone as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are universal principles, the holy trinity of liberal capitalism. Much has been written about the phrase "the pursuit of happiness" and Commager offers a succinct explanation: "Happiness meant milk for the children, and meat on the table, a well-built house, and a well-filled barn, freedom from tyranny of the State, 4 Ibid., p. 706. 5 Henry Steele Commager, "The Declaration of Independence," in Thomas Jefferson. The Man. His World. His Influence, ed. Lally Weymouth (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1973), p. 182. 120