Proper punctuation is ever so crucial, particularly when attempting to convey ideas of great subtlety and import.
Danielle Allen, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, contends that the most famous sentence in America's Declaration of Independence did not end where nearly everyone believes, that a period was inserted in the transcription of the original document which subtly but significantly alters its meaning.
(Sources: New York Times, History.com)
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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prof. Allen's supposition, that the tiny ink spot on the original parchment signed by the attendees of the Continental Congress is a comma, not a period, is reasonable, especially when the exact same form (comma, dash) is used to separate distinct clauses later in would be a jaw-busting mouthful of a sentence if she is correct.
But why should it matter, other than to scholars of historical graphology and other amusing minutiae?
Because inserting a period after "pursuit of happiness" ("happinefs" for you sticklers) significantly alters the intent of the document, making it first a declaration of individual rights, which a comma, uniting that assertion of rights to the need for Governments to secure said rights, marks an understanding that the two--rights and government--are inseparable.
That tiny dot of iron gall ink has contributed to a long-enshrined, imbalanced understanding of what being an American citizen means, one which has led to terrible strife and division, even given rise to an anarcho-Libertarian strain of thought which is utterly inimical to the justly-derived Government envisioned by Mssrs. Adams and Jefferson and Dr. Franklin.
Yes, our rights are endowed by our creator, but they are secured by our government, when its powers are justly derived by consent of the governed. The assertion of those rights and the acknowledgment of the need for a government to secure them are twin pillars of the temple those men envisioned 238 years ago in those sweltering Philadelphia rooms.
Amazing what a little dot can do. Or undo.