“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable human rights, that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”*
I’ve always been impressed by that line in the Declaration of Independence, which today celebrates its 248th anniversary. The line is a startlingly clear expression of belief, one that changed the world. Indeed, I’ve long thought that it is probably the single most influential and important secular sentence in the history of western civilization.
There is only one problem with it. It’s not true.
Don’t get me wrong. I personally believe that all people (not just men, and not just men who own land (back in Colonial America landowners had rights that landless men, women, and slaves did not have)) are indeed created equal and I believe that we all share the same unalienable rights. I believe that fervently. The problem with Jefferson’s all-time great declaration is the “self-evident” part. In 1776, there was in fact absolutely nothing self-evident about that statement. The fact that Jefferson was compelled to declare it indicates just how not self-evident it was. The fact that colonists had to fight a war to make their declaration stick indicates just how not self-evident it was. Nobody starts a war over things that are self-evident. Nobody needs to make a big stink about the fact that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
The entire history of western civilization up to that point, crammed to the gills with emperors, kings, popes, and princes, was its own proof that Jefferson’s declaration was false. Some people in Europe had manifestly more power than others, and it had been that way going all the way back to Rome and beyond that to Mesopotamia and the ancient city-states, ruled over by deified kings who were assumed to be either the direct descendants of the gods or their chosen representatives on Earth. King George had more power and rights than other people. Pope Leo had more power and rights than other people. Augustus had more power and rights than other people. On and on and on. Europeans had long surrendered themselves to absolute monarchs. It was only after Europeans landed in the Americas and saw people who didn’t live under unquestionable rulers that the entire concept started to fall apart.
The fact that colonists had to fight a war to make their declaration stick indicates just how not self-evident it was. Nobody starts a war over things that are self-evident.
For 248 years we have been struggling with Jefferson’s declaration precisely because it is not self-evident. If the question of who is created equal and whose rights are unalienable was actually self-evident, most of the problems we have today wouldn’t exist. These definitions are in constant flux. Do you believe this statement: Every single human being on the planet, no matter which borders they were born within or what gender they are or what their personal beliefs are, has been created equal to every other, and has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Do you think that’s true? Do you accept the ramifications of that belief? There is no doubt that today some people don’t.
Equality wasn’t self-evident in 1776, and it is not self-evident today. Equality is a faith that in the western world has about 5,000 years of written history leveraged against it. We didn’t close the debate in 1776, and it isn’t closed today. We are still fighting the revolution.
Happy birthday, America. Now get out there and do whatever you can to make Jefferson’s declaration actually true.
*That was my attempt to write it from memory, without looking it up. I got pretty close.