Principle Of Equality Among The People example essay topic

The declaration of independence has been the symbol of American people's desire to implement democracy in its true form. When Thomas Jefferson wrote "all men are created equal", he introduced the ideology of equal opportunity for everybody in pursuit of their individual goal. This country was founded on the principle of equality among the people. The practice of this ideology is what set the American government apart from other governments at the time.

However the definition of "all men" is not as clear as it seems. There have been a lot of discussions about Jefferson's intention when he wrote this famous statement. When examining the conditions that were present at the time, we can say that Jefferson's vision of equality was not inclusive of everyone. In 1776, slavery was a common practice in United States. The economy was largely dependent on the institution of slavery.

The slaves were dark skinned people who were brought from Africa. The difference in the way the look and the color of their skin made them to be outcast. They were given the lowest position in the society. The slaves performed most of the labor work that was considered inappropriate for any white person. The general public held an opinion about blacks to be from an inferior race. There were many people who thought of blacks not to be human beings.

Thomas Jefferson was born into a rich family who had the privilege to own slaves. When he became adult, he inherited his family estate and became a slave owner. In fact, the prosperity of his estate was very much dependent on the slaves he owned. He spent his whole life in the midst of slaves over the course of his lifetime.

Surely he was well aware of the sub-human treatment that the slaves were subjected to. It is fair to say that Jefferson was not as much concerned about the inequality that existed between blacks and whites as he was about his economic situation. During Jefferson's time of public service, he was known to be against slavery. He believed that the institution of slavery violated the core principle of the American Revolution.

When he drafted the Declaration of Independence, he inserted a paragraph that calls for the people to abolish slavery, which was taken out by other member of the congress before it was signed. However, his view of anti slavery did not mean he regarded the blacks as equal. In fact, in one of his writings, he sated that blacks are biologically inferior to whites, and he went on to say that if slaves were to become free, they should be separated from whites in order to avoid racial mixing. Although Jefferson opposed slavery, he did not free his slaves. More importantly, he was not ready to see blacks on an equal level. Blacks were not part of Jefferson's idea of society where every person was created equal.