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Editing primary source
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Description
Obama's 2004 keynote address, which launched him to national prominence, deliberately echoed the Declaration's preamble to articulate a vision of American identity — demonstrating the document's continuing power as a touchstone of national self-definition.
Excerpt
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Significance
More than two centuries on, the Declaration's self-evident truths remain the language Americans reach for to define the nation.
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