Are All Men Created Equal?

With this said, as citizens, are we still equal? The answer to that question is “no”. The world is living in Orwellian times where citizens are equal, but some citizens are more equal than others. While some agree, there are many groups that are pushing for reform and equality, such as Take Back Our Republic, By The People, and Common Cause: Holding Power Accountable. Now that the facts are said, we must ask “how did we become so unequal?” Over time, big corporations, racial groups, and corruption in government have been advocating inequality for the minority. Some people are filled with wrong ideas and beliefs that attack those in the minority group, especially people of color. Franklin said, “almost from the beginning of their national history, people have been relentless, at times ruthless, in their pursuit of equality.”

Thomas Jefferson did not believe in racial equality, and thought that blacks were intellectually inferior. However in one of the most important documents in American history is the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson himself, he says ”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by there creator...” Jefferson knew that his ownership of slaves contradicted his principles. What Jefferson wanted most was for slaves to one day be free, he wanted them to go back to Africa. He refused to grant freedom to his own slaves because of their significances to his wealth, but overall he condemned slavery.

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.

Research have show that poor people have the same attitudes toward welfare, work, education, and marriage as the middle class. This research suggests that teen pregnancy and the live for the moment attitude is actually a result of the poor mentality instead of a cause.

Throughout Jefferson’s notes, Jefferson goes on to explain that he understands that the very concept of slavery goes against his philosophy in which he instilled into the Declaration of Independence. As one of the father of our nation, we the people should expect our leaders to uphold certain standards when it comes to human rights of their vary nation. To quote our fathering document, 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…” This however, brings up the point on whether or not Jefferson viewed the African slaves as “all men.” In the excerpt from his notes, Jefferson discusses that he believes that slavery should not exist but he also believed that once a slave is free, he or she can no longer live in the same society as one who which they have slaved for.

About four in every ten children born in America in 2008 were born outside of marriage, and they are disproportionately minority and poor. “Only about 6 percent of college-educated mothers’ births are nonmarital versus 60 percent of those of high school dropouts” (5). Scholars responded to this by studying single-parent families.

Thomas Jefferson wrote “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” yet, he held over two hundred slaves which would make this an extremely important example of the corruption Jefferson, will later go on to talk about in the following paragraphs. His childhood friend, Jupiter, was born a slave closely by his side while he was a young boy and later ended up being an owned slave by the Jefferson family. Jupiter was raised

As a woman I have always thought that all men were superior to women in a society viewpoint. Black men superior to black women, Hispanic men superior to Hispanic women, and of course, white men superior to, well, all women, especially women of color, and men of color. However, when reading the article “All Men Are Not Created Equal” I had realized that Asian men are significantly inferior to Asian women in western society. I never really thought about the imbalance until just today, reading the article despite having always seen it in my day-to-day life. I really enjoyed how the author, Yen Le Espiritu, focused on the historical reason as to why Asian women are seen as more valuable in western society than Asian men. I, of course, had learned about Chinese and Japanese immigration and the Japanese internment in my high school history class, but I was never taught the societal and family issues that these events had sparked.

When Thomas Jefferson wrote the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, it became one of his greatest legacies. In the first line he wrote, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" (U.S. Constitution, paragraph 2). Jefferson wrote these words to give inspiration to future generations in the hopes that they would be able to change what he either would or could not. The word “men” in the Declaration in the early 1700 and 1800’s meant exactly that, but even then it only was true for some men, not all. Women, children, and other segments of the population such as slaves and Native Americans were clearly not included. Jefferson himself was a slave owner and held the belief that women were

Thomas Jefferson tried many things to assist slaves that belonged to him. He felt that Americans should not only emancipate them but also educate and train them to be self-sufficient, provide them with necessary materials, and establish a colony in which they could live as free and independent people. (Wilson, 1992) Thomas Jefferson would spend much of his free time ensuring that his slaves received an education. He felt they were as smart as the “white” man and would be able to succeed just as white man did. Slaves that belonged to Jefferson had many traits that would benefit them in the “free” world. There were carpenters, gardeners, plumbers, and electricians. He would always place them in a job that would enhance their skills so they would not lose touch of their blessings passed down to them. Jefferson would always treat his slaves with respect. Jefferson's compassion for his slaves sharply limited his income as he felt they should be treated decently.In one of Thomas Jefferson’s

Family structure is important for developing stability for a child. Its is also a factor in the way a child will themselves feel about the institution of marriage. Likewise, children from ‘non-normal' households are more likely to develop ‘nonnormative' attitudes towards family life. The divorce rates among the impoverished are higher than those of other classes. Higher than that are the divorce rates of African-Americans of the impoverished class. Rector states that "blacks have higher poverty rates, mainly because blacks have lower marriage rates"(Rector, 27 ).

They do not have a significant other 37 percent of single-parents families lack self sufficiency and are officially poor compared with 7 percent of married-couple families (Rector). Welfare can help the underachieving single parents that do not have a stable income. This proves and shows that some individuals can and want to be

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

Jefferson felt very strongly about the freedom of an individual. His idea of freedom was that the individual was independent, and not under the control of a government for example. There were two main things that Jefferson was concerned with, debt and distrust of men who were landless workers (124). With the first he felt that while under debt a man had very limited freedom of action. The landless workers he felt were very dependent. They had to work because there was no land for backup. In these times owning property was an important part of being a free man. Perhaps this led to slavery for those who did not own land. Many think slavery was always race based, but Jefferson?s position shows a different view.

Matthew 5:48 was used to illustrate that God had set an impossible goal for us