All Men Are Created Equal Joseph Brant Analysis

Franklin continues to support the fact that “All Men are Created Equal” in the Declaration of Independence even after eleven years prior to the signing. Owen Brown, writer of the Declaration of Liberty on July 4, 1859 even states, “That No Man had any right to deprive his fellow Man, of these Inherent rights, except in punishment of Crime.” He then continues to go on with, “The history of Slavery in the United States, is a history of injustice & Cruelties inflicted upon the Slave in every conceivable way, & in barbarity not surpassed by the most Savage Tribes.” (Doc. D). Both Owen Brown and Benjamin Franklin both agree that if “All Men are Created Equal” (Doc. A), then slavery must go. It has become a savage and cruel part of our history and is hypocritical otherwise. It is amazing that even after eighty years, the United States Declaration of Independence continues to anchor its way to current politics.

Many would say that America was built on the principle that “all men are created equal” and that U.S. citizens are all given equal treatment, opportunities, and so on. But, is that really the case? Was Thomas Jefferson’s famous words, forever inscribed in the Declaration of Independence, meant for everyone? Taking a look back into America’s short (at least when compared to other countries) history, the phrase “all men are created equal” doesn’t really seem to correlate with the circumstances of that century. Africans were enslaved and forced to do hard, strenuous labor or else be forced to endure a beating by the slave master. But don’t forget, all men are created equal. It says so in the constitution. Fast forward a couple of hundred years where all men still aren’t equal, but are close to it.

Continuing on with what exactly “men” means, what men were allowed to have the power in the situation given at the time The Declaration was written? Well, let’s take a look at the main author of this document, Thomas Jefferson. He was male, white, educated, a lawyer, and many other things. In other words, he had power. He had a recognizable position in government. Benjamin Franklin was male, white, educated, a well respected man, and other things. He also had power; he was appointed by the Continental Congress to help write The Declaration. Then there are men like John Hancock who signed the document itself, who were obviously important to be signing such an important piece of paper to the United States of America. What about the men who didn’t mean as much? The merchants? The farmers? The slaves? The blacks? When Jefferson states in the second paragraph “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal” does he really mean all men? Or only the men who matter? Obviously anyone of a skin color other than white were not equal. Slaves weren’t free until almost a century later when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Even

The principle of equality in 1776 meant the most to white rich American males. Our government has changed so much since 1776 that equality means both men and women alike. “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal.” Women and men stated at the Declaration of Sentiments

but in other countries all around the world. It even sparked revolutions in other countries. “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.” (Document B) After the revolution a new revolution of enlightenment ideas came about and inserted into our constitution. As of July 4th, 1776 all men were created equal though this had not completely been effective when inserted into the constitution since it was not subject to women and african americans.

One of the things talked about in the Declaration of Independence is that everyone is created equal, meaning that your race, ethnicity, or religion does not matter. Now, we have evolutionized and finally understand that this does not determine our social class and we treat everyone the same. In the Declaration of Independence it is shown as “We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal.” The author, Thomas Jefferson, and Continental Congress put this in the document, not just because some people wanted it, but because it was something that they believed in. Sometimes, we see equality happening, but many times, people do not understand that they need to change their attitude because the Continental

Although the Declaration of Independence stated that “All men are created equal,” the U.S Constitution denied minorities basic human rights, such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. With this, the line had been drawn. Skin color had now become the definite indicator of how race would be defined in future American society.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”. This is a precedent that was established centuries ago to tell the people of its time that there is no man lesser than another. It was set and meant to last for a very long time. Thomas Jefferson was the one who made the phrase famous, but it was his great friend Philip Mazzei who first used the saying through a letter written to Jefferson called “Joint Resolution 175 of the 103rd Congress“, which was later proposed for the United States Constitution. This same phrase Jefferson later used as the groundwork for our nation in The Declaration of Independence of 1776. It was written intending to show

Referring to the Constitution of Massachusetts, all men, without distinction of race or color, are equal before the law. The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal. Sumner builds his argument around “Equality before the law” and against the constitutionality of separate schools.

“All men are created equal”, though this would be a fact of the Western World society today, it was certainly not always that way. With the beginning of slavery in the 1600s, to becoming the main cause of the Civil War and abolishment of it, here is slavery; from the Union’s point of view.

“All men are created equal”, One of the famous quotes from the Declaration of the Independence, ever since it was created in 1776. This document that has established our country. Written by Thomas Jefferson himself and revised by John Adam and Benjamin Franklin, where they were able to establish the reasons why the United States needed there independence with their ideals of equality, unalienable rights, consent of the governed, and the right to alter or abolish government. These are all really important to follow because they each have a purpose but the one that I believe is most important would be equality. I believe that it is because it's something we really haven’t been able to understand over the following years.

It was Thomas Jefferson who uttered the words "That all men are created equal...." However, over one hundred years would pass before these words would mean anything. Equality among all Americans would come with the adoption of the fifteenth, nineteenth, and twenty-fourth Amendments. Before these amendments were passed not everyone had equal rights. African-Americans and white women had almost no rights at all. Their road to equality is large due to three very important

Men. What does this word mean? Today, the definition of men is an adult, human, male. But when Jefferson wrote “all men are equal” in the Declaration of Independence, he meant white, male, property owners. In the end, the question is, was he a hypocrite? Thomas Jefferson’s father had slaves. When he died, then it was Jefferson who inherited them. Him owning slaves was a matter that was not questioned. However, in 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “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.” Jefferson had owned over 600 slaves, so him saying this

This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free.

One of the preeminent factors provoking the former Colonists to revolt from the British was concerned with liberty for all; this concept was expanded upon in Constitution, and subverted by the white men who wrote the Constitution. When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independance in 1776, one of opening paragraphs decrees the Americans right to liberty: “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”(Thomas Jefferson). Jefferson starts the document addressing the repressed liberty of the Americans in order to demonstrate the importance of fundamental rights. However, though Jefferson says “all men are created equal,” he does not specify a distinction of men, implying all Americans are equal. In the Constitution, the Preamble expresses the need for equality by declaring: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the