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Declaration Of Independence: Were All Men Are Created Equal?

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Everyone at one point of time throughout their childhood has learned about the Declaration of Independence. While we all understand the significance of it back on July 4, 1776, there are several parts of the context that can be debatable in the 21st century. One of the most controversial parts within the declaration was the statement “all men are created equal”. Were all men created equal back then? Or was it the ignorance individuals had back then that made them assume all men were created equal? First, when you ask someone what they meant by the word men, they spoke in regards to both genders. If that is the case then back in 1776, women should have had rights, yet they did not. Women were unable to vote, or freely speak as we do today. It …show more content…

Back in 1776 slavery was still legalized. It was not until December 18, 1865 that slavery ended in the United States (Huffington). Even after slavery ended, it only gave the men more of a chance to be equal to a white man by owning land and having other small rights given to them. African American women did not receive those same rights until 1920. Native American’s were also not considered when creating the Declaration of Independence. They were not given any rights until the Indian Civil Rights Act was passed in 1968. It was less than 100 years after the Declaration of Independence was created that they allowed the federal Indian Removal Act in 1830 that killed hundreds of thousands of Native Americans. Even California in 1850 legalized slavery in the reference of buying and selling Native American children (United). As you can see, there was no such thing as “all men are created equally” unless you were a white man in 1776. Even then they could be disrespectful towards one another based on their occupation or income. In the old times white men could be classified as ignorant and prejudice towards everyone. As much as we would like to say it has improved since then, there has only been miniscule

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Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s founding fathers and key contributing author of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, is responsibility for pinning the documents powerful and well known line, “all Men are created equal”. The concept that “all Men are created equal” is the foundation of America’s phiolosy. “Yet, it was written at a time when some inhabitants were held in bondage and other were being disposed of their lands” (Video).

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The idea of all men are created equal is specious because there were Slavery, and women did not have equal rights as men. Sources A, B, C, D, show how the statement “all men are created equal” is hypocritical. The Declaration of Independence, from Source A, provides the reader that the Declaration of Natural Rights is false. In Source B, the letter from Abigail Adams shows how men had “unlimited power,” and women did not have the ability to vote, own property, or speak out in Congress. In Source C, it conveys how Slavery provoked unfair rights, embittered lives, and the loss of natural rights.

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I believe that Equality wasn’t enough back in 1776 If slaves lived up to this day, everyone would be different. In the year of 1776, there were slaves for white people. They all had to sit where they were assigned.

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During their time, the rights of white men were valued greatly, and in regard to matters such as voting, rights were even expanded. As the American population developed and grew, so did the need for farmland and places to live. Americans looked west and only saw a few obstacles in their way, one of which was the Native Americans. President Jackson decided to ignore Supreme Court rulings that recognized the Indians' rights and to push for the movement of the Indians farther west. In 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act allowing him to do so.

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The Declaration of Independence although claimed “all men are created equal,” within an equal and free society, was not entirely entitled and proposed to all men, differing from the realities of the world. Within the Declaration of Independence, the subject of slavery and women’s rights were not acted upon despite what was worded and promised on paper. This important document interested all people of age, race, gender, etc. and how it would affect them. However, the realties outside the given document were more complex in politics, society, and people’s ideals of what was proposed and to occur.

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Although slavery was declared over after the passing of the thirteenth amendment, African Americans were not being treated with the respect or equality they deserved. Socially, politically and economically, African American people were not being given equal opportunities as white people. They had certain laws directed at them, which held them back from being equal to their white peers. They also had certain requirements, making it difficult for many African Americans to participate in the opportunity to vote for government leaders. Although they were freed from slavery, there was still a long way to go for equality through America’s reconstruction plan.

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Before, during, and long after the Civil War blacks were discriminated against in almost every form of life. They had to fight and be patient to be accepted as equals among their white counterparts; this process took form over a long period of time, and after many failures, blacks were truly equal in the eyes of the government. The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments which were passed in the late 1860’s were supposed to bring political, social, and economic equality for the blacks; however, this was not the case, while in some facets of life blacks obtained more freedoms they had to wait many years after these amendments were passed to be fully equal to whites. The thirteenth amendment abolished slavery in the United States.

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Even today in our society we still follow The Declaration of Independence. The quote "All men are created equally" for us mean that, All U.S citizen are the same, we have have the same equal rights and no one is differently when it comes to laws. In the novelette equality

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“All men are created equal” is one of the most famous lines of the Declaration of Independence but for a long time it only indicated to one type of person. A land-owner white man was the only person considered a citizen in the time the constitution was written. But since then, the meaning has changed and most people see it has describing all citizens no matter who they are or what they look like. But changing the meaning of a line is much simpler than changing the system that was built from it. That line simply presented the idea that people of color, women, and any other people who were not white landowning men were not citizens of the United States and did not need a job or educational opportunities.

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Ever since Christopher Columbus traveled to the new world, the Native Americans have been treated very poorly. Even though multiple people at multiple different times told the Natives they would be treated better, they were not and were continuously getting run-over. In 1786 after the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Articles of Confederation were coming to an end, a new constitution was being made. New people would be able to vote, better laws would be passed, and there would be more of a central government. This was especially important for the Iroquios Nation (native americans) because in order to keep their nation safe, they needed the right to vote and new laws to be passed.

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In 1776 the abolishment of slavery, or the termination of slavery, was not as big of a deal at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence because in 1776 the colonies were still trying to break away from the control of the British Empire. In 1776 the Declaration of Independence was written for the “world,” at the time the world meant France. It was written for France because the patriots knew they would need France’s help in order to fight the most powerful navy in the world, the British. Also during this time, the Declaration was written for the colonies because Thomas Jefferson knew that less than 30 percent of the colonials were in favor of a revolution and the rest was either indecisive or didn’t want a revolution. With

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The Ideals of the Declaration: Which is Most Important? There are four ideals in the Declaration of Independence. The American Government became independent in July 1776. Five men wrote the Declaration of Independence, the main one being Thomas Jefferson.

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The Native Americans got what the men didn’t want. Women, no matter what color, didn’t get rights either. They couldn’t vote or at one point even read. One of the reason why all these different varieties of people didn’t have freedom was because they had

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Normally, in a revolution, a government is overthrown and replaced by another type of government. An example of a revolution is the American Revolution, in which the British monarchy got rejected by the colonists in the Thirteen Colonies. From the rejection, it resulted in a war in which the Thirteen Colonies uprised against the British. Both argued over a disagreement about the way the colonies wanted to be treated versus the way Great Britain treated the colonies. Ultimately, the idea of equality among the people and government became a major concern.

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