All Men Created Equal Essays -- essays research papers

All Men Created EqualAmerica has undergone incredible hardships as a nation. No make love hashad more impact on the development of the American definition of freedom thanthe issue of slavery. Did the opus specify which men were createdequal? Surprisingly enough the phrase " entirely men ar created equal with certaininalienable rights" did not mean what it does today. The nation was divided onthe issue of slavery and the rights of the black man in its early stages as agrowing republic. Abraham Lincoln was a brave pioneer who dared to rub his handagainst the grain of slavery bringing the original ideals of Americas foundersto a new light. He was a man who felt he was witnessing a slow decay in thefoundation of the American principles. His views were not met with unanimousapplause from the American passel. He battled against an equally strongconstituency the slave owners and their presidential candidate, Judge Douglas.Abrahams lawsuit for the abolition of slavery were bas ed on the words thatwere scripted in the Declaration of independency and the meaning of those wordsas they related to American citizens and the celebration of the 4th of July.Many Americans argued that the Negroes were not entitled to the same rightsbecause they were not legally citizens of the United States of America. Thisissue was dealt with in the ruling of the Dredd Scott case. Lincoln points outthat the ruling of the case was based on historical fact that was wronglyassumed. Judge Taney, who presided over the case tell that "Negroes were nopart of the people who made, or for whom was made, the Declaration ofIndependence, or the Constitution of the United States." This statement waslater refuted by Judge Curtis who shows that "in five of the whence thirteenstatesfree negroes were voters, and, in proportion to their numbers, had thesame part in making the Constitution that the white people had." The fact thatNegroes were citizens who participated in the framing of the Constitution gavethem the same freedoms as the white men who helped shape the American idealsclassifying the Negro as a "citizen."The strongest persuasion that Abraham could have possibly given the Americanpeople were the words that the Declaration of Independence so powerfully spoke.Lincoln fully understood the phrase "all men were created ... ...ere among freestates. The mixing of the blood was occurring because the Negroes and whiteswere in forced contact. The elimination of an almost universal fear was yetanother argument for the separation of the races.     Although he was not a advanced(a) day civil rights activist, Lincolnslogical system eventually led to the abolition of slavery, tragically driving the nationinto a state of civil war. However, the American ideals which he embraced havemade their way into our modern societies standards leading to civil rightsprograms which are constantly being reformed. Immigrants, of all nationalitie sand colors now look to America as a symbol of great ideals. Abraham verbalise moreprophetically than he could imagine that the American ideals of freedom shouldbe "constantly spreading and deepening its influence, and augmenting thehappiness and value of life to all peoples of all colors everywhere." As aresult of his push for the preservation of the American ideal of freedom,slavery no longer exists and is even considered unconstitutional on the groundsthat it is in direct contradiction with the conception that "all men are createdequal."