All people are created equal

The phrase "All people are created equal" or "All men are created equal" is arguably the best-known phrase in any of America's political documents, since the idea it expresses is generally considered the foundation of American democracy. The phrase in context in the opening of the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, reads 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."

These statements illustrate the idea of natural rights, a philosophical concept of the Enlightment. Many of the ideas in the Declaration were borrowed from John Locke, the great English liberal political philosopher. Locke, however, referred to "life, liberty, and estate," 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).

Applications in American history

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."

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.' "

Applications in literature

In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, the phrase "All animals are equal" is used in the declaration by the animals. Later on in the story, the pigs add the phrase "but some are more equal than others". Animal Farm is an allegory of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and its aftermath, and "more equal than others" refers to the privileges claimed by the Communist Party elite in the Soviet Union.

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Applications in American history

Applications in literature

See also