All men are created equal

The quotation "all men are created equal" is part of the sentence in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which Thomas Jefferson penned in 1776 during the beginning of the American Revolution that reads, "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 phrase was present in Jefferson's original draft of the declaration.^[1]^[2] It was thereafter quoted and incorporated into speeches by a wide array of substantial figures in American political and social life in the United States. The final form of the phrase was stylized by Benjamin Franklin.^[3] It has been called an "immortal declaration", and "perhaps [the] single phrase" of the American Revolutionary period with the greatest "continuing importance."^[4]^[5]

Origin of Thomas Jefferson's use of the phrase[]

Thomas Jefferson, through his friendship with Marquis de Lafayette, was heavily influenced by French philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment, such as Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu. In their often censored writings, those philosophers advocated that men were born free and equal. This later led to the French Revolution of 1789 and the concept of Human Rights (Droits de l'Homme in French). At the age of 33, Jefferson may have also borrowed the expression from an Italian friend, born in Prato, and neighbor, Philip Mazzei,^[6] as noted by Joint Resolution 175 of the 103rd Congress as well as by John F. Kennedy in A Nation of Immigrants.^[8]^[9]

An earlier mention of almost the exact same phrase is in John Milton's 1649 book called The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, written after the First English Civil War to defend the actions and rights of the Parliamentary cause, in the wake of the execution of king Charles I. The English poet says: "No man who knows ought, can be so stupid to deny that all men naturally were borne free, being the image and resemblance of God himself [...] born to command and not to obey: and that they liv'd so".^[10]

In 1776 the Second Continental Congress asked Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman to write the Declaration of Independence. This Committee of Five voted to have Thomas Jefferson write the document. After Jefferson finished he gave the document to Franklin to proof. Franklin suggested minor changes, one of which stands out far more than the others: "We hold these truths to be sacred and un-deniable..." became "We hold these truths to be self-evident."

The second paragraph of the United States Declaration of Independence starts 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.-- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."^[11]

The Virginia Declaration of Rights, chiefly authored by George Mason and approved by the Virginia Convention on June 12, 1776, contains the wording: "all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights of which . . . they cannot deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety."^[12] George Mason was an elder-planter who had originally stated John Locke's theory of natural rights: "All men are born equally free and independent and have certain inherent natural rights of which they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety."^[13] Mason's draft was accepted by a small committee and then rejected by the Virginia Convention. Thomas Jefferson, a competent Virginia lawyer, saw this as a problem in legal writing and chose words that were more acceptable to the Second Continental Congress.

The Massachusetts Constitution, chiefly authored by John Adams in 1780, contains in its Declaration of Rights the wording: "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."^[14]

The plaintiffs in the cases of Brom and Bett v. John Ashley and Commonwealth v. Nathaniel Jennison argued that this provision abolished slavery in Massachusetts.^[15] The latter case resulted in a "sweeping declaration . . . that the institution of slavery was incompatible with the principles of liberty and legal equality articulated in the new Massachusetts Constitution".^[16]

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.^[18]

Slavery and the phrase[]

The contradiction between the claim that "all men are created equal" and the existence of American slavery, including Thomas Jefferson himself owning slaves, attracted comment when the Declaration of Independence was first published. Before final approval, Congress, having made a few alterations to some of the wording, also deleted nearly a fourth of the draft, including a passage criticizing the slave trade. At that time many other members of Congress also owned slaves, which clearly factored into their decision to delete the controversial "anti-slavery" passage. Jefferson believed adding such a passage would dissolve the independence movement.^{[citation needed]} Jefferson, decades before the Declaration of Independence, argued in court for the abolition of a slave.^{[clarification needed]} The court dismissed the case outright. In writing the declaration, Jefferson believed the phrase "all men are created equal" to be self-evident, and would ultimately resolve slavery.^[19] In 1776, abolitionist Thomas Day wrote: "If there be an object truly ridiculous in nature, it is an American patriot, signing resolutions of independency with the one hand, and with the other brandishing a whip over his affrighted slaves."^[19] This phrase is further used in Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream speech' for many of these same reasons.

Criticism[]

The phrase "all men are created equal" has received criticism from elitists and traditional conservatives. For instance, Richard M. Weaver writing in one of the cornerstone works of traditional conservatism, Ideas Have Consequences (1948), paraphrased a 19th-century writer in writing that "no man was ever created free and no two men [were] ever created equal". He continues: "The comity of peoples in groups large or small rests not upon this chimerical notion of equality but upon fraternity, a concept which long antedates it in history because it goes immeasurably deeper in human sentiment. The ancient feeling of brotherhood carries obligations of which equality knows nothing. It calls for respect and protection, for brotherhood is status in family, and family is by nature hierarchical."^[20]

The term 'all men are created equal', is part of the sentence that in its entirety says, "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".

Howard Zinn has written that the use of the word 'men', to the exclusion of women, indicated the women were "beyond consideration as worthy of inclusion" and "they were simply overlooked in any consideration of political rights, any notions of civic equality".^[21]

Legacy[]

The Vietnamese proclamation of independence, written in 1945, uses the phrase "all men are created equal" and mentions the U.S. Declaration of Independence in it as well.

The Rhodesian declaration of independence, ratified in November 1965, is based on the American one, however, it omits the phrase "all men are created equal", along with "the consent of the governed".^[22]^[23]^[24]

References[]

^ "Jefferson's "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence". jeffersonpapers.princeton.edu.
^ Jefferson, Thomas (2018), The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 1: 1760 to 1776, Princeton University Press, p. 315, ISBN 978-0-691-18466-1
^ Peterson, Merrill. Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation: A biography. p. 90. Oxford University Press, 1970.
^ See, e.g., Jack P. Greene, All Men Are Created Equal: Some Reflections on the Character of the American Revolution (1000. p. 5: "Perhaps no single phrase from the Revolutionary era has had such continuing importance in American public life as the dictum 'all men are created equal'".
^ John Wynne Jeudwine, Pious Phrases in Politics: An Examination of Some Popular Catchwords, their Misuse and Meanings (1919), p. 27, quoting Senator Lyman Trumbull of Illinois, author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as referencing the "immortal declaration that all men are created equal".
^ Philip Mazzei, The Virginia Gazette, 1774. Translated by a friend and neighbor, Thomas Jefferson:

Tutti gli uomini sono per natura egualmente liberi e indipendenti. Quest'eguaglianza è necessaria per costituire un governo libero. Bisogna che ognuno sia uguale all'altro nel diritto naturale.

Translated by Jefferson as follow:

All men are by nature equally free and independent. Such equality is necessary in order to create a free government. All men must be equal to each other in natural law

He may also have influenced Thomas Paine's Common Sense.

All men are by nature equally free and independent. Such equality is necessary in order to create a free government.
All men must be equal to each other in natural law
^ "103D CONGRESS : 2D SESSION : H. J. RES. 175" (PDF). U.S. Government Publishing Office.
^ According to Joint Resolution 175 of the 103rd Congress, "the phrase in the Declaration of Independence 'All men are created equal' was suggested by the Italian patriot and immigrant Philip Mazzei.^[7]
^ "The great doctrine 'All men are created equal' incorporated into the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, was paraphrased from the writing of Philip Mazzei, an Italian-born patriot and pamphleteer, who was a close friend of Jefferson." by John F. Kennedy, A Nation of Immigrants pp. 15–16
^ http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/tenure/text.shtml
^ s:United States Declaration of Independence
^ Virginia Declaration of Rights
^ Blumrosen, Alfred W. and Ruth G., Slave Nation: How Slavery United the Colonies and Sparked the American Revolution, Sourcebooks, 2005, pp. 125–26.
^ Article I, Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1780)
^ John J. Patrick (1995), Founding the Republic, pp. 74–75, ISBN 9780313292262
^ The Massachusetts Constitution, Judicial Review and Slavery – The Quock Walker Case, Massachusetts Judicial Branch (2007).
^ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". The United Nations.
^ UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Preamble: Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity, and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world & Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.^[17]
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Armitage, David. The Declaration Of Independence: A Global History. 76–77. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-674-02282-9
^ Weaver, Richard. Ideas Have Consequences. 41-42. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971. ISBN 0-226-87678-0
^ Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. Harper Collins.
^ Palley, Claire (1966). The Constitutional History and Law of Southern Rhodesia 1888–1965, with Special Reference to Imperial Control (First ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 750. OCLC 406157.
^ Hillier, Tim (1998). Sourcebook on Public International Law (First ed.). London & Sydney: Cavendish Publishing. p. 207. ISBN 1-85941-050-2.
^ Gowlland-Debbas, Vera (1990). Collective Responses to Illegal Acts in International Law: United Nations action in the question of Southern Rhodesia (First ed.). Leiden and New York: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 71. ISBN 0-7923-0811-5.

External links[]

Letter Addressed to the Commonalty of Scotland by John Knox, 1558 – an early historical occurrence of the phrase "all men are equal"

[1] "Jefferson's "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence". jeffersonpapers.princeton.edu.

[2] Jefferson, Thomas (2018), The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 1: 1760 to 1776, Princeton University Press, p. 315, ISBN 978-0-691-18466-1

[3] Peterson, Merrill. Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation: A biography. p. 90. Oxford University Press, 1970.

[4] See, e.g., Jack P. Greene, All Men Are Created Equal: Some Reflections on the Character of the American Revolution (1000. p. 5: "Perhaps no single phrase from the Revolutionary era has had such continuing importance in American public life as the dictum 'all men are created equal'".

[5] John Wynne Jeudwine, Pious Phrases in Politics: An Examination of Some Popular Catchwords, their Misuse and Meanings (1919), p. 27, quoting Senator Lyman Trumbull of Illinois, author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as referencing the "immortal declaration that all men are created equal".

[6] Philip Mazzei, The Virginia Gazette, 1774. Translated by a friend and neighbor, Thomas Jefferson:

Tutti gli uomini sono per natura egualmente liberi e indipendenti. Quest'eguaglianza è necessaria per costituire un governo libero. Bisogna che ognuno sia uguale all'altro nel diritto naturale.

Translated by Jefferson as follow:

All men are by nature equally free and independent. Such equality is necessary in order to create a free government. All men must be equal to each other in natural law

He may also have influenced Thomas Paine's Common Sense.

All men are by nature equally free and independent. Such equality is necessary in order to create a free government.
All men must be equal to each other in natural law

[7] "103D CONGRESS : 2D SESSION : H. J. RES. 175" (PDF). U.S. Government Publishing Office.

[8] According to Joint Resolution 175 of the 103rd Congress, "the phrase in the Declaration of Independence 'All men are created equal' was suggested by the Italian patriot and immigrant Philip Mazzei.^[7]

[9] "The great doctrine 'All men are created equal' incorporated into the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, was paraphrased from the writing of Philip Mazzei, an Italian-born patriot and pamphleteer, who was a close friend of Jefferson." by John F. Kennedy, A Nation of Immigrants pp. 15–16

[10] ttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/tenure/text.shtml

[11] s:United States Declaration of Independence

[12] Virginia Declaration of Rights

[13] Blumrosen, Alfred W. and Ruth G., Slave Nation: How Slavery United the Colonies and Sparked the American Revolution, Sourcebooks, 2005, pp. 125–26.

[14] Article I, Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1780)

[15] John J. Patrick (1995), Founding the Republic, pp. 74–75, ISBN 9780313292262

[16] The Massachusetts Constitution, Judicial Review and Slavery – The Quock Walker Case, Massachusetts Judicial Branch (2007).

[17] "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". The United Nations.

[18] UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Preamble: Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity, and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world & Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.^[17]

[AFP-19] Jump up to: ^a ^b Armitage, David. The Declaration Of Independence: A Global History. 76–77. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-674-02282-9

[WEA-20] Weaver, Richard. Ideas Have Consequences. 41-42. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971. ISBN 0-226-87678-0

[21] Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. Harper Collins.

[22] Palley, Claire (1966). The Constitutional History and Law of Southern Rhodesia 1888–1965, with Special Reference to Imperial Control (First ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 750. OCLC 406157.

[23] Hillier, Tim (1998). Sourcebook on Public International Law (First ed.). London & Sydney: Cavendish Publishing. p. 207. ISBN 1-85941-050-2.

[24] Gowlland-Debbas, Vera (1990). Collective Responses to Illegal Acts in International Law: United Nations action in the question of Southern Rhodesia (First ed.). Leiden and New York: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 71. ISBN 0-7923-0811-5.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[7]

[17]

show v t Thomas Jefferson
3rd President of the United States (1801–1809) 2nd Vice President of the United States (1797–1801) 1st U.S. Secretary of State (1790–1793) U.S. Minister to France (1785–1789) Delegate, Congress of the Confederation (1783-1784) 2nd Governor of Virginia (1779–1781) Delegate, Second Continental Congress (1775–1776)
Founding documents of the United States	A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774) Olive Branch Petition (initial draft; 1775) Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (1775) Declaration of Independence (1776) Committee of Five authored physical history "All men are created equal" "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" "Consent of the governed" Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, 1777 draft and 1786 passage Freedom of religion Land Ordinance of 1784 Land Ordinance of 1785 Northwest Ordinance (1787)
French Revolution	Co-author, Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)
Presidency	Inaugural addresses 1801 1805 Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves Louisiana Purchase Lewis and Clark Expedition Corps of Discovery timeline Empire of Liberty Red River Expedition Pike Expedition Cumberland Road Embargo Act of 1807 Chesapeake–Leopard affair Non-Intercourse Act First Barbary War Native American policy Marbury v. Madison West Point Military Academy State of the Union Addresses 1801 1802 1805 Cabinet Federal judicial appointments
Other noted accomplishments	Early life and career Franco-American alliance Founder, University of Virginia history Ratification Day Anti-Administration party Democratic-Republican Party Jeffersonian democracy First Party System republicanism Plan for Establishing Uniformity in the Coinage, Weights, and Measures of the United States (1790) Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions A Manual of Parliamentary Practice (1801) American Creed Jefferson disk Swivel chair
Jeffersonian architecture	Barboursville Farmington Monticello gardens Poplar Forest University of Virginia The Rotunda The Lawn Jefferson Hall Virginia State Capitol White House Colonnades
Other writings	Notes on the State of Virginia (1785) European journey memorandums (1787) Indian removal letters Jefferson Bible (c. 1819) Jefferson manuscript collection at the Massachusetts Historical Society The Papers of Thomas Jefferson
Related	Age of Enlightenment American Enlightenment American Philosophical Society American Revolution patriots Member, Virginia Committee of Correspondence Committee of the States Founding Fathers of the United States Jefferson and education Religious views Jefferson and slavery Jefferson and the Library of Congress Jefferson Pier Pet mockingbird National Gazette Residence Act Compromise of 1790 Sally Hemings Jefferson–Hemings controversy Betty Hemings Separation of church and state The American Museum magazine Virginia dynasty
Elections	Presidential elections 1796 1800 1804
Legacy and memorials	Bibliography Jefferson Memorial Mount Rushmore Birthday Thomas Jefferson Building Jefferson Territory Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression Jefferson Lecture Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Thomas Jefferson Star for Foreign Service Karl Bitter statues Columbia University statue Louisville statue University of Virginia statue U.S. Capitol statue Jefferson Literary and Debating Society Thomas Jefferson Foundation Jefferson Lab Monticello Association Jefferson City, Missouri Jefferson College Thomas Jefferson School of Law Thomas Jefferson University Washington and Jefferson National Forests Peaks and mountains Jefferson Rock Other placenames Jefferson–Jackson Day Currency depictions Jefferson nickel Two-dollar bill Louisiana Purchase Exposition gold dollar 250th Anniversary silver dollar U.S. postage stamps Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence
Popular culture	Ben and Me (1953 short) 1776 1969 musical 1972 film Jefferson in Paris (1995 film) Thomas Jefferson (1997 film) Liberty! (1997 documentary series) Liberty's Kids (2002 animated series) John Adams (2008 miniseries) Jefferson's Garden (2015 play) Hamilton 2015 musical 2020 film Washington (2020 miniseries) Wine bottles controversy
Family	Martha Jefferson (wife) Martha Jefferson Randolph (daughter) Mary Jefferson Eppes (daughter) Harriet Hemings (daughter) Madison Hemings (son) Eston Hemings (son) Thomas J. Randolph (grandson) Francis Eppes (grandson) George W. Randolph (grandson) John Wayles Jefferson (grandson) Frederick Madison Roberts (great-grandson) Peter Jefferson (father) Jane Randolph Jefferson (mother) Lucy Jefferson Lewis (sister) Randolph Jefferson (brother) Isham Randolph (grandfather) William Randolph (great-grandfather)
← John Adams James Madison → Category

show v t George Mason
United States Founding events	Drafted, 1769 Virginia Association resolutions Primary author, 1774 Fairfax Resolves Primary author, 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights "All men are created equal" Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness Freedom of the press Freedom of religion Consent of the governed Baseless search and seizure Cruel and unusual punishment Speedy trial 1776 Virginia Constitution Seal of Virginia 1785 Mount Vernon Conference 1787 Constitutional Convention "high crimes and misdemeanors" Virginia Ratifying Convention Co-father, United States Bill of Rights history Founding Father
Writings inspired	Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789, France) United States Bill of Rights (1789)
Life	Chopawamsic plantation Gunston Hall On slavery Ohio Company
Legacy	George Mason Memorial George Mason University George Mason Stadium George Mason Memorial Bridge George Mason High School 18-cent postage stamp
Related	Age of Enlightenment American Enlightenment American Revolution patriots Wilson v. Mason Hollin Hall Woodbridge plantation Mason's Island
Family	George Mason V (son) William Mason (son) Thomson Mason (son) John Mason (son) Thomas Mason (son) George Mason III (father) Thomson Mason (brother) George Mason II (grandfather)