That Declaration prompted a War for the right to self-determination (at least the right to self-determination among land-owing white men). A right since expanding to all white men, then all men (regardless of color), then women, and finally to all people old enough to be drafted.
That Declaration gave way to a Constitution (with at least 1 major pitfall along the way) which now governs a country of 350 Million people who believe that Americans are governed by a set of laws and respect.
Happy 4th of July. It is a great country - even if we don't agree on every way to make it better, we are all committed to the ideal of a great nation.