4 Tough acts to follow.

• Position: 13 original colonies compared to other states on life, liberty, pursuit of happiness - Stateline - Brief article - Statistical data

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness--with nearly 240 years to practice U.S.-style democracy, the 13 original colonies rank pretty well against the other states on ensuring two of these three basic rights, according to a Bloomberg study. About half of them beat the U.S. average life expectancy of 78.9 years, with Connecticut (at 80.8 years) leading the way. All 13 have lower incarceration rates--Bloomberg's measure of liberty--than the U.S. average of 497 per 100,000...