Monday, July 6, 2015

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: How the 13 Colonies Rank Today (BusinessWeek)

Does the promise of the Declaration of Independence hold true in 2015?

Let's start with life—or really, life expectancy. Only seven of the 13 original colonies beat the U.S. average of 78.9 years.


How about liberty? One measure of liberty is the incarceration rate. All 13 original colonies have lower incarceration rates than the U.S. average of 497 per 100,000 residents.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was the promise of the Declaration of Independence. Almost 240 years later, how do the 13 original colonies stack up in those three measures?


When it comes to the pursuit of happiness, the 13 original colonies aren't at the top of the list. Let's look at these states' ratings in the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which measures purpose, social, financial, community, and physical elements in peoples' daily lives. None of the original colonies ranked among the top 10 happiest states by this measure. Virginia ranked the highest of the group, at No. 14, followed by Massachusetts at No. 17.


This story is based on Bloomberg Brief's interactive StoryChart on the 13 original colonies. 

1 comment:

  1. Hi friend....The very pure spirit does not bother about the regard of others or human respect, but communes inwardly with God, alone and in solitude as to all forms, and with delightful tranquility, for the knowledge of God is received in divine silence.Read more-Life And Happiness Center In Florida

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