Which phrase opens the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence?

“We hold these truths” opens the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence.

The full sentence begins, “We hold these truths to be self-evident,” and continues by asserting that all men are created equal and possess unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

This passage is among the Declaration’s most famous lines, but it is not the document’s opening. The first paragraph explains why the colonies must state the causes that drive them to separate. The final section formally declares independence from Great Britain.

The wording reflects Enlightenment political ideas, especially the concept that legitimate government rests on the rights and consent of the governed. The phrase has also been the subject of continuing historical debate because the ideals it states coexisted with slavery and exclusion in 1776. America250 invites attention both to the declaration’s language and to the nation’s unfinished effort to realize those ideals.