Why the Natural Right 'The Pursuit of Happiness' in the Declaration of Independence?

Why the Natural Right 'The Pursuit of Happiness' in the Declaration of Independence? In light of July, 2026 being a celebration of 250 years of American independence—really, a celebration of the end of the claim that the king, claiming a divine right to rule, was the law—I would like to offer a paragraph on the meaning of the Declaration of Independence’s (1776) phrase that people have natural rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I have always wondered what this ‘pursuit of happiness’ means. I believe I now know, and to that end I have updated my essay, ‘Social Cohesion, Populism, and the Church's Prophetic Role in the State’. The following paragraph has been added to that essay:Aristotle is, in my view, likely the source for the surprising claim in America's Declaration of Independence about the 'pursuit of happiness'. It reads, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.' John Locke, whose philosophical ideas were foundational for the Americans, had written that natural rights included life, l...