MARSHALL — For America’s 250th anniversary, community members came to the Lyon County Museum to reflect on America’s past — the ideas that shaped it, and what its future will look like.

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Humanities Center hosted a “Declaration of Independence and Liberty: Then and Now Community Conversation.”

The event included a full reading of the Declaration of Independence followed by small group discussion. Attendees talked with others about what liberty and the pursuit of happiness means to them and what government institutions can do to achieve those goals. As well as reflecting on some of the ways America can be improved and the ideas of the founders they felt many were forgetting.

The first topic of small group discussion spoke about liberty. That conversation went deeper than simply individual freedoms. Many attendees saw liberty as not just individual but communal. The best part of liberty – the group agreed – was sharing that liberty with others.

“From the air that I breathe, the water that I drink, when my kids walk down the street. Those things are only possible in communities and societies,” said Helen Langer, an attendee at the event.

The conversation then shifted to the way America as a nation understands liberty, and how that understanding is based deeper in individuality than others. As well as how that understanding of liberty can shift even on a state to state basis. The person in southwest Minnesota has a different understanding of liberty than the one in San-Francisco, both have a different understanding than the person in Louisiana.

“People’s sense of rugged individualism is different across states,” said Bill Palmer, another attendee. “We are 50 nations organized by one central set of laws.”

Next came the question about the pursuit of happiness, and what that pursuit means for so many. The MHC made it a point to emphasize that what the Founding Fathers meant by “happiness” was not “pleasure” but instead “virtue.” Virtue in contributing to the nation in society in a way that’s meaningful.

Jeff Kolnick – one of the organizers in the event – brought up to his group that the difference in happiness between those who can afford their bills and those with billions of dollars is very little. That the pursuit of happiness cannot just be the individual pursuit of money. Ultimately, the group agreed that community and having people to share happiness with is the goal.

“To pursue happiness has to be pursuing a sense of community,” said Stephen Rasmusson, another attendee.

The final topic of discussion talked about governments role in liberty and happiness, and what the government should do to help its citizens achieve those goals, as well as what it shouldn’t do.

The small group discussion had some disagreements but respectful deliberation about the government’s role in society. Whether the government as it was established in 1776 should be the way things are set up now, or whether changes needed to be made to more accurately reflect the original ideas of equality the founders spoke about when they said “All men are created equal.”

That conversation shifted toward talking about the current administration, and some of the ways attendees feel that it’s failing in properly giving citizens the right to liberty and pursuit of happiness.

“The government used to be on our side,” said Paul Everson, the manager of the museum who participated in the event. “Now, people hate the government.”

The event ended with small groups sharing what they talked about with everyone. Everyone gave the event very positive feedback, with many attendees thankful they had the opportunity to see local community members and discuss important issues. Rasmusson commented that he wished this event could happen more often, talking about more topics.

According to their website, The Minnesota Humanities Center is a politically independent nonprofit organization that works to promote understanding within communities by creating space for civic conversation and education.

The MHCs “Declaration of Independence and Liberty, Then and Now” event is part of a longer conversation series presented in partnership with Braver Angels of Minnesota and the Minnesota Historical Society. According to Colin Nelson-Dusek, a humanities officer at the MHC, their event in Marshall was the first, and they plan to have similar discussions in every Minnesota district. The MHC has calendar dates set in Winona, Edina, and Moorehead.

“It makes my dream of community conversation a reality,” Nelson-Dusek said.