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Equality Between All Men And African American Women

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"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The Founding Father and President, Thomas Jefferson, uttered these infamous and immortal words while creating the Declaration of Independence--a document that served to outline the principles of Natural Rights and Natural Law. With this in mind, we should ask ourselves: Who is encompassed in the vague subject of the sentence “all men?” In 1776, when the widely referenced document written, “all men” solely referred to American citizens which, evidently, did not include women and African Americans. Therefore, the phrase “all men” quite literally meant all men. Adult, black males were not included in this designation because during this time black Americans were not viewed as human beings, thus not possessing natural human rights. …show more content…

After Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, many men, women, and children led the effort in achieving equality for all people everywhere--regardless of race, religious beliefs, or gender--through nonviolent protests and radical movements. Besides equality between races, equal opportunity between genders is another prominent matter. Many feminists today would argue that while women’s rights have come a long way, the way present-day society portrays women would just prove that we still have a long way to go before gender equality is achieved. Also, in many countries such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Nepal, women are treated significantly worse than men

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70 Words | 1 Pages

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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1542 Words | 7 Pages

America is the land of the free and home of the brave, but has it always been? If someone were to reference old documents like The Declaration of Independence or even The Constitution they would think so, but American history itself says otherwise. During the mid 1770’s slavery was an almost unquestioned normality and women had no rights, however when The Declaration of Independence was written, the statement, “all men are created equal” appeared while Thomas Jefferson stated the natural rights of every human. This statement is clearly not true in the eyes of the men who wrote and edited this document, hence proving that the statement “all men were created equal” is hypocritical. In accordance to primary sources gained from this period of intolerance and recreations of it, it is clear that not only were the women not treated as equal, but the African men and women treated as property were also stripped of the three main rights and liberties the Declaration argues for.

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760 Words | 4 Pages

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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806 Words | 4 Pages

In the Declaration of Independence, it is a common objective to state that all men are equal. Jefferson wrote: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed

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327 Words | 2 Pages

“We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and woman are created equal.” This quote was said by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The quote is relating to women not being able to vote. In 1920, it was the first year that woman got the right to vote. Women were not being treated right.

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559 Words | 3 Pages

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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254 Words | 2 Pages

On July, 1, 1776 236 years ago, the second continental congress met in Philadelphia, and on the following day 12 of 13 colonies voted in favor of Richard Henry Lee’s motion for independence. “Congress picked a committee to write a declaration explaining why the colonies wanted independence,” and that is how all men are created equal is about to be brought up. Issues in the past with all people being treated equally, has been a big thing with women’s rights, in the past decades women in terms of employment has been gradually getting better, in 2014 women have almost all the same rights as men. Even though most women could work Ruth Pearson pointed out, “As individuals workers experienced both the liberating and the “empowering”

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903 Words | 4 Pages

Men and women worldwide, no matter the type of government or lifestyle they live under, believe in the ever infallible natural law, which dictates the rights of a person from birth, and how they ought to be treated until death. History however, has brutally shown us that those natural rights are not always respected- not for the lack of trying. Thomas Jefferson when writing the declaration of independence, believed that “all men are created equal”, but the actions of the country as a whole, shortly after that independence, showed otherwise. That phrase that has forever been imbedded in the American identity, and that to this day, continues to drive the political and social aspects of our society. Unfortunately, a few hundred years since that time, that phrase still holds close to weight nor meaning.

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208 Words | 1 Pages

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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840 Words | 4 Pages

America seems to be well-known as being the land of the free. People who are enter or born in the land of the free are promised with civil rights and liberty. However, women are not treated the same and only considered as second class citizens. Meanwhile, African Americans are not even considered as citizens or even as humans. Human rights have always been controversial and it will always have its flaws.

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1175 Words | 5 Pages

After the civil war, the struggle between African American freedom and white dominance were at its strongest. These struggles are what would lay the foundation for the lives of the African Americans for many years after. The plan for reconstruction started after the civil war ended and was the major attempt at trying to create an interracial democracy and fix society, as well as physical rebuilding the country. The ways of the society also were changing very much.

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300 Words | 2 Pages

A blast killing more than 300 sailors, injuring off-duty men, shook Port Chicago, California. Men refused to go back to work until biased and hazardous conditions at the docks were addressed. Fifty were charged with mutiny and were facing years of jail time. This captivating story of the prejudice that tackled African American men in America's armed forces during World War II; a look at those who gave their lives in the service of a country where they lacked the most basic human rights. Therefore, bringing about an era of change.

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301 Words | 2 Pages

As Black Women, we were stuck between the Black Power Movement and the Feminist Movement. While we wanted to help our “Brothers” achieve equality we also wanted equality as African American and women. But in both movements, Black Women were silenced and still faced inequality, white women of 1st and 2nd wave feminist movement pushed black women to the back of the bus and sexism ran rampant in the Nation of Islam and Civil Rights Movement. The problems that black women faced were not being heard even though both movements supposed to be inclusive, there was little thought given in regards to black women and their need. While white women were the face of the feminist movement, Black men were in the front of the Black Power Movement.

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839 Words | 4 Pages

We live in a world where everyone is created equally. A world where we teach we are all equally treated, respected, and offered the same rights, but have yet to see women offered these rights. Susan M. Okin wrote “Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?” in response to women versus the cultural and minority groups rules and regulations of multiculturalism. Okin defines feminism as “the belief that women should not be disadvantaged by their sex, that they should be recognized as having human dignity equally with men, and the opportunity to live as fulfilling and as freely chosen lives as men can” (Hinman 2006).

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877 Words | 4 Pages

In our advanced 21st century, it is hard to imagine our society as anything short of perfect. After all, we have come a long way from our seafaring ancestors. However, the reality is that despite how we may sometimes avoid seeing it, our society is anything but perfect. A very prevalent issue today is that despite laws being set in place to enforce the equal treatment of men and women, women all over the world today still face poor treatment and discrimination. Because of how deep and long this problem has run, revising discriminatory laws may not abolish discrimination and legislating laws that endorse gender equality may not necessarily create equality.

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