The unforgivable curses and the US Declaration of Independence

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 96614

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Albus Dell <albus696 at y...> 
wrote:
> From the US Declaration of Independence:
> 
> > That among these [rights which all people have] are
> > life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
> 
> I wonder if Rowling had this in mind when coming up
> with the unforgivable curses. The Avada Kedavra is
> obviously the violation of the first right; the
> Imperius curse is a violation of the second (a
> physical one - not a legal one, but the same idea);
> and someone under the Cruciatus curse is almost as
> unhappy as one can be!
> 
> Any thoughts on the matter?

Geoff:
I wonder whether JKR would have considered the US Declaration of 
Independence when I assume that she originally thought she was 
writing for a largely British readership who might not be well-versed 
in that document.