To Kill a
Mockingbird

All Men

are created Equal!

Thomas Jefferson

The third President of the United States, and primary author of the declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson incorporated in it, the words, “ All men are created equal ” to state that all men are by nature equally free and independent. And such equality is necessary in order to create a free government. Though "all men are created equal" has been regarded as a hallmark statement in democratic constitutions and human rights movements, different people have interpreted the word "men" differently. While some founders believed (much like modern people) that this should imply that all mankind and all people are equal.

Others have taken the meaning more literally, believing that “men” referred to men like them, adult white males who are literate (literacy rates were much lower back then, at around 5%), free, and own property (generally thought of as land). Essentially, wealthy white men. It has now become a statement of individual equality that everyone and every member of a deprived group could claim for themselves. With each passing generation, the notion of who that statement covers has expanded.

Related Articles

Here are two articles I have choosen from web that shows its diversity, the debate and conflict of the pharse. The pharse is even on the American constitution which has brought huge debate and various views and statement regarding it.

1

When Thomas Jefferson penned
“ All men are created equal”, he did not mean individual equality.

- Stanford scholar Source: Stanford, News service

(Accesed on November, 2022 )

In this article, MELISSA DE WITTE the scholar of Stanford has written how the Continental Congress took the text “All Men are created Equal ” and when they adopted the text what they meant was all the people have same right to the law of the country, it didn’t directly interpreted as individual equality. The writer has mentioned various other points in the draft of Continental Congress which was still not fair as equality. They created conflict as the statement created with the different meaning was taken in other ways.

“ All Men are created Equal ” as this has been in the constitution of America, it touched the major points like slavery and how it has corrupted it. The statement was created with meaning as everyone had the same right and could declare independence, create new governments and not means as individual equality but after the revolution people ‘American’ took that as individual equality and everyone could claim for themself.

The writer has concluded as there is no such account of origin of American slavery in history that is satisfying enough. And as historians who studied the American constitution and country it is difficult to get fair answers and explanations why the laws are formed and accepted.

Read Article

2

Centuries-long debate continues over “all men are created equal ”

- Hillel Italie Source: PBS News Hour

(Accesed on November, 2022 )

The article discusses social activists who fight for LGBTQ rights. The quote lives on as an inspiration for such activists to continue working for equality. Each organization has their own interpretation; some see it as creating a country where all people have the same dignity, where all are counted equally, where no one is considered disposable, and where no one is considered a second-class citizen with fewer rights. Whereas others make it elusive and adapt to different points of view such as social, racial, economic with little or no common grounds.

Similarly, the article discusses how Thomas Jefferson, who penned the word into the United States Declaration of Independence, owed slaves, including most of his fellow patriots. And because the enslaved people were property, they might not have been included in his new polity, maintaining their status as slaves. Furthermore, Thomas Jefferson may not have meant not to recognise his enslaved people as people, but rather that they could only enjoy those rights elsewhere, in their own country.

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To Kill A
Mockingbird