What Did Thomas Jefferson Mean By “All Men Are Created Equal”?
Examining the Meaning and Scope of America’s Declaration of Independence
With its eloquent declaration of equality and human rights, the Declaration of Independence is one of the most influential and moving documents in Western history.
Yet despite its noble-sounding words, the Declaration was approved and signed by exclusively white men who either practiced or (to some degree) tolerated slavery, one of the greatest evils in world history.
It’s fair then to ask…
What did Thomas Jefferson and the Second Continental Congress mean by the words “all men are created equal”?
In his landmark Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, Joseph Story, an imminent early American judicial figure, wrote: “The first and fundamental rule in the interpretation of all instruments [documents] is to construe them according to the sense and the terms and the intentions of the parties.”
While my postmodernist readers may differ, I wholeheartedly agree with Justice Story’s take on language. When someone makes a statement or puts words on paper, that author infuses those words with meaning. Deciphering an author’s intent is the only fair way to answer questions related to a…
