Christopher Sherman
As Americans celebrate 250 years of independence, people in countries around the world that have long taken inspiration from the Declaration of Independence are reflecting too. In reporting his magazine story on how America鈥檚 semiquincentennial resonates globally, Scott Baldauf had to confront the idea that Americans don鈥檛 really own their nation鈥檚 creation story. The founding fathers drew on ideas from Ancient Greeks and the European Enlightenment. 鈥淥nce they declared independence, they found their ideas spreading quickly to other places in the world. So now life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is owned by many other nations 鈥� Venezuela and Haiti and India and Ireland and France,鈥� Scott told me. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like a timeshare. We all own it, and we express those ideals of freedom in different and sometimes conflicting ways.鈥�
