Freedom, and equality in the United States, it's roots, causes, and the pursuit of equality in the American culture.

Essay by ephtwo10University, Bachelor'sA, December 2002

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Freedom and Equality

"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."1 Never before has such a bold assumption been pushed forward as the reason for a peoples' existence. If Thomas Jefferson had been alive today, and insisted in the area of public ideas that all men are equal, he would have been heralded as a visionary, and man with the courage to guide and direct the course of a people toward a greater existence. But this is not the totality of Mr. Jefferson's timeless assertion. Thomas Jefferson's declaration, which has guided the path of this nation through two hundred years of unique existence is that we hold the truth to be self-evident, that all men, (and women) are created equal, and endowed by there Creator with certain undeniable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Would today's culture, and in light of it's determined bias against all things referencing the existence of God, would Mr. Jefferson be allowed to make such a revolutionary claim?

In Jefferson's day, the cost of his actions, and those who agreed with him, was high. Their final personal covenant is represented in the final words of the timeless document which guides this nation. "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."2 Their pledge of their lives was not an idle platitude, as the ensuing Revolutionary war was prosecuted at the expense of many of their lives. The British government pursued these men who had so brazenly declared their own personal...