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All men are created equal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The quotation "All men are created equal" (sometimes modified to "All people are created equal") is arguably the best-known phrase in any of America's political documents, as the idea it expresses is generally considered the foundation of American democracy. It appears in the opening of the American Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, as follows:
| “ | 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. | ” |
The same sentiment appears in the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, which predates the U.S. Constitution by seven years, and was the first of its kind in the world. 1780 also marks the first time in America that such wording was used to successfully argue against slavery in a court of law: Brom and Bett vs. Ashley.
| “ | Article I. All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness. | ” |
These statements illustrate the idea of natural rights, a philosophical concept of the Enlightment; many of the ideas in the Declaration were borrowed from the English liberal political philosopher John Locke. Locke, however, referred to "life, liberty and Property" rather than the pursuit of happiness.
The phrase has since been considered a hallmark statement in democratic constitutions and similar human rights instruments, many of which have adopted the phrase or variants thereof.
Declaring the equality of all men did not, however, prevent the United States from continuing the widespread practice of slavery. However, President Abraham Lincoln relied on the Declaration of Independence when making the case that slavery went against the deepest commitments of the American nation. Though he did so throughout the 1850s and into his presidency, the most famous example can be found in the Gettysburg Address:
| “ | Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. | ” |
When Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others convened in Seneca Falls, New York in July 1848, they drafted and signed a document titled the Declaration of Sentiments. The opening sentence alludes to this phrase:
| “ | We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal. | ” |
The phrase was also quoted by Martin Luther King, Jr. in his famous I Have a Dream speech, as the "creed" of the United States:
| “ | I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.' | ” |
- Second-class citizen
- John Ball (1381), "When Adam dug and Eve span, who was then the nobleman?"
- Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789), article 1: "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions can be founded only on the common utility."
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), article 1: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights..."