What Does It Mean To Say That All Men Are Created Equal Essay

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.

On June of 1776, the Declaration of Independence was born. Drawn up by Thomas Jefferson and based on the works of John Locke, the general purpose of the document was to clarify that governments have conditional, not absolute authority over the people; that human beings possess natural rights that can’t be taken from them and government is created to protect those rights. The phrases “unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” and “all men are created equal” were the main theme of the social contract written for the small colonies of what would be the basis of the United States of America to declare independence from Great Britain and its tyrannical king. However, “unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” and “all men are created equal” did not apply to African Americans, enslaved or free for the coming years.

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America...and to the republic for which it stands...one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.” (“Is the United States a Democracy?”) The United States’ pledge is taught to children of all ages, plays an active role in the patriotism of the people, and it symbolizes the citizen’s promise to never violate the Republic of the United States of America. The founding fathers built the foundation of America on their ideological belief that the country should be a republic and that all mankind are created equally. However, over the years, America has gained the title as a democratic nation and the status quo of America being considered “the majority rule.” The present state of affairs of the American government proves to be incorrect because the United States is not a democracy. The United States has limited citizens to participate equally on various occasions, due to the emphasis the government has placed on non-democratic practices, inconsistencies, and discrimination regarding race, gender, and ethnicity.

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.

America by far is the most diverse country on the face of the earth. America today is known for freedom, equality, democracy, and a defender against tyranny. The foundation of American values lay in a belief of independence, nationalism, capitalism, and religion. However, many conflicts have arisen over these values in the past. Capitalism and other characteristics have made America great, but they have brought about their own set of inequalities. Those inequalities have deep roots in race, culture, gender, and wealth. In the 1800s two of the biggest conflict lies with the issue of slavery and women’s rights.

“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

Harlan thus courageously argues that the “separate but equal” doctrine not only violates the fundamental principles of democracy, namely equality and freedom, but also contravenes the U.S.

In an article titled “We Are Not Created Equal in Every Way” that appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle on December 12 2000, reporter and columnist Joan Ryan expressed her opinion regarding the story of Fredrika Keefer. Miss Keefer was an 8-year-old whose mother, Krissy Keefer, sued the San Francisco Ballet School after Fredrika was refused admission to the school because of her body type. While Ryan’s article is an opinion piece, many of her arguments and comparisons are ill-thought-out, fallacious, or do not contribute much of anything to the piece.

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.

The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress to cut off political connections with Britain and to state that America would be its own nation. It stated, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” but not everyone was treated “equal”. By 1850, the United States did not fulfill the ideals of the Declaration of Independence for all people because immigrants and women did not have equal political, social, and economic rights. The ideals of the Declaration were guaranteed to all people, but were not fulfilled because immigrants did have equal economic and social rights. Document 2 has evidence that can be used to support the subclaim it shows a family in Ireland poor and starving

The framework of America’s government was forged in the spirit of democracy. The founding fathers envisioned a nation of free and equal persons and a country where everyone had a voice in the decision-making process. However, it soon became evident that not all people had a voice or even equal rights. Two groups excluded from government were women and African-Americans. These groups rose up to declare their rights to equality and freedom under the law. The women’s rights and abolitionist movements of the early 19th century highlight the strengths of ideology and weaknesses of practice of democracy in early America.

In Malcom X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet,” Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” and SDS’s “Port Huron Statement,” they all have a similar goal and that’s to argue about the unfair rights given to minorities. As a citizen in America, principles of equality must be given to everyone according to the American Creed. “The American Creed” is an American Universalism, which the United States as the government for the people must establish these principles of freedom, equality and justice. “The American Creed,” strongly reflects the three historical and intellectual contexts in defining American justice. These three intellectuals justify that if the American Creed is to support all people in American society, then it should also represent the people of color.

Americans do share political values, but the way they interpret them could create controversies between them. Equality has diverse approaches: political equality and social equality. People who appreciate political equality believe that everyone should have equal access to politics. People who appreciate social equality instead, believe that everyone should have equal access to opportunities and to outcome. Nevertheless, these different views of American equality cause a regular issue, which is how much freedom or liberty is to be sacrificed in order to achieve equality. Liberty, moreover, has two different points of views. No restrictions on one’s behavior is one, and protection from any kind of discrimination is other. Evidently, the government

Culture and ethnic groups have many strict values and principles when it comes to war. Most ethnic groups tend to focus on themselves rather than taking into account the international issues that are occurring. With the advancement of society, these groups often stand by their morals instead of trying to engage in new ones and accepting the worldwide conflicts. More often than not, ethnic groups are discriminated against even after the rise of the concept “All men are created equal”(The Declaration of Independence). Yet, this idea is neglected especially in regards to social status and race. These people have different intentions and repeatedly are being encouraged to blend into American society and leave their values behind. In the past, equality and individual rights were portrayed in an extremely different matter which impacted people's views on freedom today.