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All men are by nature equally free and independent. Such equality is necessary in order to create a free government. All men must be equal to each other in natural law. Jefferson also may have been influenced by Thomas Paine's Common Sense, which was published in early 1776: Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Duplessis, 1778. He is credited with ...
The Committee of Five edited Jefferson's draft. Their version survived further edits by the whole Congress intact, and reads: [7] 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.
The Declaration defined a single set of individual and collective rights for all men. Influenced by the doctrine of natural rights, these rights are held to be universal and valid in all times and places. For example, "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good."
On July 4, 1776, a group of American founders pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to found a new nation. 'We hold these truths to be self-evident.' The Declaration of Independence.
They did not mean to say all men were equal in color, size, intellect, moral development, or social capacity. They defined with tolerable distinctness in what they did consider all men created equal—equal in "certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." This they said, and this they meant.
All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness.
[7] All men are born free and equal, in dignity and in rights, and, being endowed by nature with reason and conscience, they should conduct themselves as brothers one to another. — Preamble, American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man
Thus, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen) can be encapsulated so: (1) Men are born, and always continue, free and equal in respect of their rights. Civil distinctions, therefore, can be founded only on public utility; (2) The end of all political associations is the ...