Welcome back to our intellectual journey through the Declaration of Independence. Last time we delved into the causes/definition of revolution and why we seem so obsessed with it in modern times. Now we have reached the second sentence, the most famous line in the entire document. In fact, I do not find it hyperbolic to call it the most important sentence in American history. Why? This sentence will define what it means to be an American because it so specific and yet so vague at the exact same time. A sentence malleable enough to the individual reading it to interpret millions of ways and yet have enough girth to it to give it meaning. So before we can go any further I think we have to really, intensely scrutinize this sentence, which will be the point of today's article. Here it is: We hold these truths to be self-evident, 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. Now I know to most of us this is just something to memorize for a test but have you ever really sat and thought about what is being said here? I am going to try and show you my thinking right now. "WE hold these truths" Thomas Jefferson, and in large part the Founding Fathers, could have just said "IT IS self-evident" but they chose to start this sentence with "WE". Now is Jefferson saying we "the people writing this document", we "Americans" or we "humans"? Considering that the entire document is meant to create a separation I doubt he could mean "we humans" because that is one of the reasons for this separation. England clearly does NOT hold these truths and that is why we must break-up. It is the fundamental difference that is creating them to "impel this separation".' I also recognize the peculiarity of that statement since many of these "rights" were protected in British documents like the Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights but we will discuss that another article. For now, let us just suspend disbelief on that notion. "We Americans" would be rather presumptuous, not that is stopped the Founding Fathers at other times. Remember, many Americans did not consider themselves Americans, they were British subjects. Ben Franklin's own son was a Loyalist to the Crown. So while Jefferson is trying to create an American identity, I think even he realizes that this is not a commonly held belief among the populace...yet. So instead the most likely scenario is "we, the people writing and signing this document" believe this. That is why the Founders came to hot, smelly Philadelphia in the middle of the summer to write a document already stating something people knew was happening. I mean no one could call the Declaration a spoiler, the news of this separation had been out since the shots at Lexington and Concord. Still, these leaders are trying to do just that--lead. Show the American denizens what it means to be an American, even if the people writing it are not fully sure yet what it entails. "We hold these TRUTHS" I find this quite amazing too. Jefferson was many things, a philosopher, a lawyer, a politician, a scientific racist an artist but he was also a scientist. Jefferson was obsessed with learning and there is a reason he is concerned with natural law and not necessarily the Bible or Christian modes of thinking. He was a Deist, which meant that he saw religion more as a moral teaching than believing in miracles and marvelous feats. So Jefferson knew the impact of using the word "truths" because everything in science is a THEORY. The theory of relativity, the heliocentric theory, you name it. In science, there is observable data and then there are conclusions drawn from that. Scientists always leave open the possibility that new information could force them to reassess previously conceived notion. Here, Jefferson has closed that door completely. He is not saying we believe in these things, he is saying they are facts, they are true. That is an incredibly bold statement considering that the Enlightenment philosophers he is plagiarizing were just that---philosophers. They are contemplating and theorizing natural rights. Jefferson is boldly and affirmatively stating this fact. Furthermore, he is pretty much throwing shade on the doubters when he says that these truths are "self-evident". It is actually a bit of a cop out because it means Jefferson does not have to prove this incredibly bold claim he is about to make, you can figure it out on your own. Jefferson has framed this sentence, at the time and really for all future generations, in such a way that to question it is to essentially question the fundamentals of our own thinking and logic. I mean it is "self-evident"...right? RIGHT? So what are we supposed to see without the help from anyone else? "That all men are created equal". I had to actually take a moment before I continued writing because of the gravity of this sentence. Once again, let's break it down. ALL men, so that means not just Americans but men across Earth are created equal. All MEN, probably the most highly contested word in the entire document. It seems very unlikely Jefferson meant women or even non-white males when he made this universal declaration. After all, think of how many non-white males worked on this document. Still by leaving it with one simple word: men, it has been vague enough that every group in American history has laid claim to this declaration as their own. Was that Jefferson's purpose all along? Did he want to create enough ambiguity as to encourage a national spirit and unity, create an "unum" out of our "pluribus"? While his intentions may never be known it seems without question that this was exactly the result of this wording. "All men ARE CREATED EQUAL". Remember, this is supposed to be self-evident, but what exactly do they mean by equal? We are certainly not created all equal in terms of ability. We are not created equal in terms of height, weight, intelligence, athleticism, skin color or any physical/mental definition. Does that mean we should all be treated equally? Well if that was the intent it seems odd to use the word "created", why not just say "deserve to be"? Does he mean we are all children of God? Seems more like a concept John Winthrop would write than the Founding Fathers. Jefferson was a Deist after all. It seems that the only likely answer is that we are equal, only in the respect that we all are created to have the rights given to us by our Creator (spoiler alert again). That clause however is so weighty that it needs to be discussed another day!
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