ipl-logo

Opposing Views In Thomas Jefferson's Declaration Of Independence

597 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of the declaration of independence

Thomas Jefferson wrote one of the most important and ironic phrases in the United States’s history: “...that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable right; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” (652). The Declaration of Independence boasts that it supports that all men have a right to liberty. However, even though they declare it, it does not always hold truthful. The declaration only promotes the freedom and separation as a united country or for the men of the occupied countries. There is no reference to women, people of color, or children in regards to liberty. Meaning, that unless you are a man, technically you are still under England’s rule. I know that the document is not directly saying that and most people would assume that “men” was an all inclusive term. And yet, if that were true, we would have the same wage gap between men and women or the battle for the same civil rights that the men in 1776 were fighting for in 2016. But I digress. Jefferson writes several issues that the representatives of the United States of America in General Congress. For instance, “He has erected a multitude of new offices, by a self-assumed power and sent hither swarms of new officers to harass our people and eat out their substance” (654). I can see how people from a …show more content…

However, even with the all the “freedom” and “liberty for all” sentiments, it does exclude a huge portion of the population. We are still dealing with the ramifications of exclusion to this days, even 240 years later. And by our own government enabling the same tyrannical oppression where people are not able to get the equal rights they deserve we are making this document invalid and not upholding the better fundamentals that the founding fathers

Show More
Related
390 Words | 2 Pages

How and Why Jefferson’s Original Draft for the Declaration of Independence was changed to the accepted version. In order for the Declaration of Independence to be adopted it required a unanimous vote. In order to get that unanimous vote Jefferson had to compromise over the mention of slavery and other controversial topics in the document. The second section of the Declaration of Independence, following the introduction, Jefferson writes everything King George has done that has infringed on the colonists rights. In this section there is a specific line the delegates from the southern colonies did not agree with.

Read More
213 Words | 1 Pages

A variety of qualified people were chosen to write the Declaration of Independence, but in the end, Thomas Jefferson was appointed. The final draft was supposed to be inspiring through its language to give people hope and freedom. With this in mind, Thomas Jefferson had a lot of pressure being the author of the final draft. A woman, who was his landlady, recorded in her journal about hearing his conflict at the time. She wrote about how she listened to him pacing frantically upstairs, trying to think of what to inscribe.

Read More
1675 Words | 7 Pages

Danielle Allen’s Our Declaration is a rereading of the Declaration of Independence in an effort to take ownership of this crucial document for herself and the Black community. Due to her predetermined mission of reinterpreting the document in an empowering manner, established through her transformational experience teaching the Declaration to her college classes, her chapters tend to fall to the wayside of overenthusiastic optimism rather than clarifications of how the authors or the document itself pertains to minorities and targeted communities of the United States of America. The focus of Allen’s novel lies in her beseeching the reader to recognize equality as a core facet of the Declaration, a component that is inseparable from freedom

Read More
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.

Read More
440 Words | 2 Pages

Jefferson, being the framer of the Declaration of Independence has spoken upon the rights he believes every man should have. Banneker is sure to include these important words in his letter. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” These words state that every man is created equal, but with the system of slavery still intact, those words have no meaning. Banneker accuses Jefferson of saying these words but not acting upon them.

Read More
192 Words | 1 Pages

In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson stated in multiple paragraphs that supported the decision to break free from Great Britain. He did this by describing the king’s tyranny against the colonies. He included all the reasons they were deciding to separate from Great Britain and proved that the decision was justified. Providing evidence of what led the colonies to decide to become independent, Jefferson gave a valid argument for the colonies position. In the document Jefferson writes in a firm and rational tone.

Read More
946 Words | 4 Pages

Jefferson protested Hamilton’s proposal for this reason, predicting that the most important citizens of his Republican vision, the yeoman farmers, would suffer. By the end of the night a compromise had been made that appeased both parties: the federal government would assume the national debt, and in turn, the capital of the nation would move from Pennsylvania to Virginia, an easily accessible region for Jefferson and Madison. Their quiet conversations clearly displayed their sole concern for themselves, not the American people. In addition, the fact that their compromise was made privately proves the lack of respect they

Read More
1255 Words | 6 Pages

Michelle Alexander argues "the Constitution was designed so the federal government would be weak, not only in its relationship to private property, but also in relationship to the rights of states to conduct their own affairs. The language of the Constitution itself was deliberately colorblind (the words slave or Negro were never used), but the document was built upon a compromise regarding the prevailing racial caste system" (19). She goes on to identify the three major "racial caste systems" that have existed in the United States and how the Constitution has specifically been used in constructing these castes. What are the three major racial caste systems discussed by Alexander?

Read More
1127 Words | 5 Pages

The Comparison of Two Declarations Thomas Jefferson and Elizabeth Cady Stanton fought for what they believed; which was being free and equal from unjust rule or unjust laws. In the “Declaration of Independence” By Thomas Jefferson; Jefferson writes about his concerns about current Government ruled by the King of Great Britain in the United States and proceeds to list conflicts that many people face in the United States due to the King’s unjust treatment towards its citizens. In the end of the essay he persuades that the United States should separate from the rule of Great Britain. In another essay written like the “Declaration of Independence” comes the “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in Stanton’s essay she writes about issues that women face towards unjust laws. These laws were to prohibit and limit a women’s rights due to the fact they are married to their spouse; an example of these laws was “denied... the facilities for obtaining a through education” (149) to clarify this quotation women weren’t allowed to receive an education due to being married.

Read More
1011 Words | 5 Pages

Erick Platero Professor Dethloff Honors English 1302 9 February 2017 Revolutionizing the World After a long struggle of suffering, humiliation, and disrespect, the thirteen colonies conclusively decided to reconcile their difference, and stand united against the most powerful nation on earth, Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson, a Virginia delegate, was left with the task to justify to the world of their unprecedented, yet necessary, action to “dissolve the political bands” (Jefferson 770) that had tied them to the British crown. When the time came, Thomas Jefferson not only had the intention to officially declare the colonies separate from England, but he also had the intention to legitimize an inevitable war to the foreign nations to gain

Read More
756 Words | 4 Pages

So, when the Declaration states that “Native Citizens” including all “men, women, girls and children” it is displaying that this is no longer just about men and that everyone single person, including the “girls and children” will need to have a role if they wish to have a

Read More
242 Words | 1 Pages

“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.

Read More
842 Words | 4 Pages

The Declaration of Independence states: “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 Declaration of Independence is a written version of our rights as humans in America. It is saying that every person is equal, with equal opportunities. The people are given rights at birth that can not be taken away. The document gives all the “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” as basic human rights.

Read More
771 Words | 4 Pages

The Declaration of Independence states that all people have the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. Unfortunately, unless you were a rich white male, you had to fight for that right. Many of our ancestors worked tirelessly for the rights that we have today; tearing down barriers so that we, their distant relatives would never have to experience them. They faced abuse and ridicule with their heads held high, telling the privileged few “We will have our rights!” While we will never be able to thank them, we owe them our time.

Read More
981 Words | 4 Pages

The words of Thomas Jefferson from the Declaration of Independence marked the beginning of a nation, and the birth of the United States of America. The basis of the Declaration was based on the idea of freedom, where “all men are created equal.” However, by today’s standards, the Declaration of Independence has many controversial points. One of them concerns the topic over slavery, where there have been many disagreements between the current interpretations and the views of our founding fathers hundreds of years ago. Many have argued that hypocrisy evidently exists in the words written in the Declaration.

Read More

More about Opposing Views In Thomas Jefferson's Declaration Of Independence

Related Topics

Open Document