Every American Should Read This Document

I’ve lived in America my whole life. For forty-four years, I’ve grown up in small towns, worked in small businesses, raised a small family, and pursued the not-so-small concept of freedom and liberty as I see fit. But I’ve never read The Declaration of Independence until today. At just over 1,300 words long, Thomas Jefferson argued that all men are created equal with unalienable rights including Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness. He wrote these words while owning more than 600 slaves. This fact does not discount the value of the Declaration or its intention, but it does show that freedom on paper is not the same as freedom in practice. All Americans should read The Declaration of Independence and consider if Jefferson should be banned from our history books for his hypocrisy. I think Jefferson should maintain his position as a founding father because, despite his failings, he did help craft the country that I love – one that makes it possible for progress.

Maya Angelou’s poem Africa personifies the horror faced by Black people enslaved by freedom-loving Americans. The second stanza reads:

This poem is the story of our country’s founding industry. It tells of how we took ships to Africa, filled them with family members, and forced them into slavery under the banner of violence and Christianity. We failed as a country to live up to the ideals of our Declaration, but that does not mean we should strike it or Jefferson from our past.

Since the signing of The Declaration, we’ve come a long way. Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham, author of several books including Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, makes the perfect statement in a PBS interview titled “How Could a Slaveholder Write ‘All Men Are Created Equal?’” when he said, “The country we have right now…was really created in 1964, 1965” (PBS). He speaks of progress towards the ideals laid out in the Declaration. While the document was signed in 1776, it took movements like Dr. Martin Luther King’s march on Washington to put its words into action. 

History has multiple viewpoints depending on who’s telling the story. Why did the Spartans attack Athens? What was the narrative that convinced millions of Germans to follow Hitler willingly? Why did the Roman Inquisition make sense to people in the sixteenth century? And Why did Jefferson keep slaves?

Our ancestors failed in many of their ethical responsibilities. Still, we cannot doubt that some of their actions had a positive outcome. Jefferson’s decision to rent a second-floor room in the home of Jacob Graff (“Declaration (Graff) House”), set up his portable writing desk, and draft a short document that would lead to a country that could eventually accept the Civil Rights Movement makes this a document that all men and women should read in an attempt to promote Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness for all. 

Click Here to Read The Declaration of Independence

Until tomorrow, read slowly – take notes – apply the ideas.

-Eddy

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Works Cited

Angelou, Maya. “Africa.” The Complete Poetry, Random House, 2015, p.82.

“Declaration (Graff) House.” Visit Philadelphia, www.visitphilly.com/things-to-do/attractions/declaration-graff-house/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.

PBS NewsHour. “How Could a Slaveholder Write ‘All Men Are Created Equal?’” Interview with Annette Gordon-Reed and Jon Meacham. PBS, 26 June 2020, https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/how-could-a-slaveholder-write-all-men-are-created-equal/. Accessed September 26, 2024.