Back خلق كل الناس سواسية Arabic Todos los hombres son creados iguales Spanish همه مردمان برابر آفریده شدهاند Persian Semua manusia diciptakan setara ID Tutti gli uomini sono stati creati uguali Italian All men are created equal Latin Toți oamenii sunt creați egali Romanian Bütün insanlar eşit yaratılmıştır Turkish 人皆生而平等 Chinese
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The quotation "all men are created equal" is found in the United States Declaration of Independence and emblematic of the America's founding ideals. The final form of the sentence was stylized by Benjamin Franklin, and penned by Thomas Jefferson during the beginning of the Revolutionary War in 1776.[1] It reads:
"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."
Drawing from Enlightenment philosophy, the phrase reflects the influence of John Locke's second treatise on government, particularly his belief in the inherent equality and individual liberty. Similar ideas can be traced back to earlier works, including medieval and classical sources, which emphasized the dignity and worth of all human beings. Jefferson applied the concept in his original draft of the declaration.[2][3] The phrase was subsequently quoted and incorporated into the speeches and writings of prominent figures throughout American political and social history. It has been called an "immortal declaration", and "perhaps [the] single phrase" of the American Revolutionary period with the greatest "continuing importance."[4][5]
- ^ Peterson, Merrill. Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation: A biography. p. 90. Oxford University Press, 1970.
- ^ Jefferson, Thomas (1950-12-31). Boyd, Julian P. (ed.). The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 1: 1760 to 1776. Princeton University Press. doi:10.1515/9780691184661. ISBN 978-0-691-18466-1.
- ^ Jefferson, Thomas (2018), The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 1: 1760 to 1776, Princeton University Press, p. 315, ISBN 978-0-691-18466-1
- ^ See, e.g., Jack P. Greene, All Men Are Created Equal: Some Reflections on the Character of the American Revolution (1000. p. 5: "Perhaps no single phrase from the Revolutionary era has had such continuing importance in American public life as the dictum 'all men are created equal'".
- ^ John Wynne Jeudwine, Pious Phrases in Politics: An Examination of Some Popular Catchwords, their Misuse and Meanings (1919), p. 27, quoting Senator Lyman Trumbull of Illinois, author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as referencing the "immortal declaration that all men are created equal".