"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.” This, the very first sentence of the Declaration of Independence defined every Americans right to be treated as equals. But now as then, if you are poor and then you are most certainly not equal and are socioeconomically alienated from these sacred American rights.