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((Short description|Phrase from U.S. Declaration of Independence))
((Humanism))
((Rights))
The quotation "'''all men are created equal'''" is found in the [[United States Declaration of Independence]]. The final form of the sentence was stylized by [[Benjamin Franklin]], and penned by [[Thomas Jefferson]] during the beginning of the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] in 1776.<ref name=":1">Peterson, Merrill. ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation: A biography''. p. 90. Oxford University Press, 1970.</ref> It reads:

((blockquote|"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their [[God|Creator]] with certain [[Unalienable rights|unalienable Rights]], that among these are [[Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness]]."))

The phrase echoes the words of [[John Locke]] in his second [[Two Treatises of Government|treatise on government]], and other authors as early as the 13th century. Jefferson applied the concept in his [[Committee of Five#First draft|original draft]] of the declaration.<ref>((cite web|url=https://jeffersonpapers.princeton.edu/selected-documents/jefferson%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Coriginal-rough-draught%E2%80%9D-declaration-independence|title=Jefferson's "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence|publisher=jeffersonpapers.princeton.edu))</ref><ref>((citation|last=Jefferson|first=Thomas|title=The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 1: 1760 to 1776|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zf5ZDwAAQBAJ|year=2018|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-18466-1|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Zf5ZDwAAQBAJ&pg=315&dq=%22all+men+are+created+equal%22 315]))</ref> It was thereafter quoted and incorporated into speeches by a wide array of substantial figures in American political and social life in the United States. It has been called an "immortal declaration", and "perhaps [the] single phrase" of the [[American Revolution]]ary period with the greatest "continuing importance."<ref>See, e.g., Jack P. Greene, ''All Men Are Created Equal: Some Reflections on the Character of the American Revolution'' (1000. p. 5: "Perhaps no single phrase from the Revolutionary era has had such continuing importance in American public life as the dictum 'all men are created equal'".</ref><ref>John Wynne Jeudwine, ''Pious Phrases in Politics: An Examination of Some Popular Catchwords, their Misuse and Meanings'' (1919), p. 27, quoting Senator [[Lyman Trumbull]] of [[Illinois]], author of the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]], as referencing the "immortal declaration that all men are created equal".</ref>

==Origins==
The phrase is attested as early as pope [[Pope Gregory I|Gregory the Great]] in book XXI of his [[Moralia in Job]],<ref>((cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/moralsonbookofj234greguoft |title= THE BOOKS OF THE MORALS OF ST. GREGORY THE POPE, OR AN EXPOSITION ON THE BOOK OF BLESSED JOB. |last= Gregory |translator-last1= Bliss |translator-first1=James |translator-last2=Marriott |translator-first2=Charles  |website=Archive.org |publisher= J.H. Parker, Oxford |publication-date=1845 |page=533 |access-date=March 25, 2023))</ref> and was picked up by [[Thomas Aquinas]],<ref>((cite web | url=https://www.corpusthomisticum.org/snp2030.html |title=Thomas de Aquino, Scriptum super Sententiis, lib. 2 d. 30-33 |at=Distinctio 32, Quaestio 2, Articulus 3 |website=Corpus Thomisticum |access-date=March 25, 2023))</ref> [[Azo of Bologna|Azo]], [[Hervaeus Natalis]], and other medieval thinkers.<ref>((cite book |last= Tierney|first=Brian |date=1982 |title=Religion, law, and the growth of constitutional thought 1150-1650 |pages=45–46, 57–58 |publisher=Cambridge University Press ))</ref>

Thomas Jefferson, through his friendship with [[Marquis de Lafayette]], was heavily influenced by French philosophers of the [[Age of Enlightenment]], such as [[Voltaire]], [[Rousseau]] and [[Montesquieu]]. In their often censored writings, those philosophers advocated that men were born free and equal. This later led to the French Revolution of 1789 and the concept of Human Rights (Droits de l'Homme in French). At the age of 33, Jefferson may have also borrowed the expression from an Italian friend and neighbor, [[Philip Mazzei]],<ref>Philip Mazzei, [[The Virginia Gazette]], 1774. Translated by a friend and neighbor, Thomas Jefferson:<br />
((blockquote|''Tutti gli uomini sono per natura egualmente liberi e indipendenti. Quest'eguaglianza è necessaria per costituire un governo libero. Bisogna che ognuno sia uguale all'altro nel diritto naturale.'')) 
Translated by Jefferson as follow: 
((blockquote|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 (pamphlet)|''Common Sense'']], which was published in early 1776:

((blockquote|All men are by nature equally free and independent. Such equality is necessary in order to create a free government.<br />All men must be equal to each other in natural law))</ref> born in [[Prato]], as noted by Joint Resolution 175 of the [[103rd United States Congress|103rd Congress]] as well as by [[John F. Kennedy]] in ''[[A Nation of Immigrants]]''.((refn|According to Joint Resolution 175 of the 103rd Congress, "the phrase in the Declaration of Independence 'All men are created equal' was suggested by the [[Italians|Italian]] [[patriotism|patriot]] and [[immigrant]] Philip Mazzei.<ref>((cite web|url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-103hjres175eh/pdf/BILLS-103hjres175eh.pdf|title=103D CONGRESS : 2D SESSION : H. J. RES. 175|publisher=U.S. Government Publishing Office))</ref>))<ref>"The great doctrine 'All men are created equal' incorporated into the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, was paraphrased from the writing of Philip Mazzei, an Italian-born patriot and pamphleteer, who was a close friend of Jefferson." by John F. Kennedy, ''A Nation of Immigrants'' pp. 15–16</ref>[[File:Joseph Siffrein Duplessis - Benjamin Franklin - Google Art Project.jpg|left|thumb|''Benjamin Franklin'' by [[Joseph Duplessis]], 1778. He is credited with stylizing the final form of the quote.<ref name=":1" /> ]]In English history there exists earlier uses of nearly the same phrase. First by the medieval priest [[John Ball (priest)|John Ball]] who at the outbreak of the 1381 [[Peasants Revolt]] in his famous sermon posited the question "When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman?" and proclaimed "From the beginning all men by nature were created alike".<ref name="bbc">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/voices/voices_reading_revolt.shtml BBC: Voices of the powerless – readings from original sources]</ref> In his 1690 work [[Two Treatises of Government|Second Treatise of Government]] the philosopher [[John Locke]] argues that in the "state of nature" that existed before the formation of governments all men were created equal.<ref>((cite book|url=|title =The Encyclopedia of American Law|first =  David|last = Schultz|publisher = Facts On File, Incorporated))</ref> Another example is in [[John Milton]]'s 1649 book called [[The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates]], written after the [[First English Civil War]] to defend the actions and rights of the Parliamentary cause, in the wake of the execution of king [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]. The English poet says: "No man who knows ought, can be so stupid to deny that all men naturally were borne free, being the image and resemblance of God himself ... born to command and not to obey: and that they liv'd so".<ref>((cite book|url =https://milton.host.dartmouth.edu/reading_room/tenure/text.shtml|title =The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates |first = John|last = Milton|publisher = Dartmouth College))</ref>

In 1776, the [[Second Continental Congress]] asked Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, [[John Adams]], [[Robert R. Livingston (chancellor)|Robert Livingston]], and [[Roger Sherman]] to write the Declaration of Independence. This [[Committee of Five]] voted to have Thomas Jefferson write the document. After Jefferson finished he gave the document to Franklin to proof. Franklin suggested minor changes, one of which stands out far more than the others:  "We hold these truths to be sacred and un-deniable..." became "We hold these truths to be self-evident."((citation needed|date=December 2022))

The second paragraph of the [[United States Declaration of Independence]] starts: "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|Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness]].-- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."<ref>[[s:United States Declaration of Independence]]</ref>

The [[Virginia Declaration of Rights]], chiefly authored by [[George Mason]] and approved by the [[Fifth Virginia Convention|Virginia Convention]] on June 12, 1776, contains the wording: "all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights of which . . . they cannot deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety."<ref>[[Virginia Declaration of Rights]]</ref> George Mason was an elder-planter who had originally stated [[John Locke]]'s theory of natural rights: "All men are born equally free and independent and have certain inherent natural rights of which they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety."<ref>Blumrosen, Alfred W. and Ruth G., Slave Nation: How Slavery United the Colonies and Sparked the American Revolution, Sourcebooks, 2005, pp. 125–26.</ref> Mason's draft was accepted by a small committee and then rejected by the Virginia Convention. Thomas Jefferson, a competent Virginia lawyer, saw this as a problem in legal writing and chose words that were more acceptable to the Second Continental Congress.

The [[Massachusetts Constitution]], chiefly authored by [[John Adams]] in 1780, contains in its [[Massachusetts Constitution#Part the First: A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts|Declaration of Rights]] the wording: "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."<ref>[[s:Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1780)#Article I|Article I, Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1780)]]</ref>
 
The plaintiffs in the cases of ''[[Mum Bett|Brom and Bett v. John Ashley]]'' and ''[[Commonwealth v. Nathaniel Jennison]]'' argued that this provision abolished slavery in Massachusetts.<ref>((citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bPvq0-taGAEC |pages=74–75 |title=Founding the Republic |author=John J. Patrick|year=1995 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9780313292262 ))</ref> The latter case resulted in a "sweeping declaration . . . that the institution of slavery was incompatible with the principles of liberty and legal equality articulated in the new Massachusetts Constitution".<ref>[http://www.mass.gov/courts/sjc/constitution-slavery-e.html The Massachusetts Constitution, Judicial Review and Slavery – The Quock Walker Case] ((Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091204185216/http://www.mass.gov/courts/sjc/constitution-slavery-e.html |date=2009-12-04 )), Massachusetts Judicial Branch (2007).</ref>

The phrase has since been considered a hallmark statement in democratic constitutions and similar human rights instruments, many of which have adopted the phrase or variants thereof.((refn|UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Preamble: Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity, and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world & Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/|title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights|publisher=The United Nations))</ref>))

==Criticism==
The phrase "all men are created equal" has received criticism.

=== Early ===
In the early 19th century, Senator [[John Randolph of Roanoke]] criticized the phrase, stating that it is "a falsehood, and a most pernicious falsehood, even though I find it in the Declaration of Independence". [[John C. Calhoun]] agreed, saying that there was "not a word of truth" in the phrase.<ref name=":2">((Cite journal |last=Maier |first=Pauline |date=1999 |title=The Strange History of "All Men Are Created Equal" |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/wlulr/vol56/iss3/8 |journal=Washington and Lee Law Review |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=873 |issn=0043-0463))</ref> In 1853 and in the context of the [[Kansas–Nebraska Act|Kansas-Nebraska Act]], Senator [[John Pettit]], said that the phrase was not a "self-evident truth" but a "self-evident lie".<ref name=":2" /> These men were all either slave owners or supporters of [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]].

Confederate Vice President [[Alexander H. Stephens|Alexander Stephens]] also criticized the sentence in 1861 in his [[Cornerstone Speech]], calling it a "false idea" and noting that the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate States]] were founded "upon exactly the opposite idea", specifically outlined as white supremacy and the position of African Americans as subordinate.<ref name=":0">((Cite news |last=McPherson |first=James M. |author-link=James M. McPherson |date=2001 |title=Southern Comfort: The Myth of the Lost Cause |language=en |work=[[The New York Review of Books]] |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2001/04/12/southern-comfort/ |access-date=2023-03-05 |issn=0028-7504))</ref>

=== Contemporary ===
[[Howard Zinn]] and others have written that the phrase is sexist. Zinn says that the use of the word ''men'', to the exclusion of women, indicated the women were "beyond consideration as worthy of inclusion" and "they were simply overlooked in any consideration of political rights, any notions of civic equality".<ref>((cite book |last1=Zinn |first1=Howard |title=A People's History of the United States |date=2015 |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=9780062466679))</ref><ref>((cite book |last1=Bearn |first1=Gordon C.F. |title=Life Drawing: A Deleuzean Aesthetics of Existence |publisher=[[Fordham University Press]] |page=260))</ref> However, others argue that in the 1700s, the word ''men'' was sometimes used to denote both genders''.''<ref>((Cite book |last=Oberle |first=Lora Polack |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4VzETYpczF8C&pg=PA39 |title=The Declaration of Independence |date=2002 |publisher=Capstone Publishers |isbn=978-0-7368-1095-1 |pages=39 |language=en))</ref> According to the [[Library of Congress]], most people have interpreted "all men''"'' to mean humanity and, within the context of the times, it is clear that "all men" was a [[euphemism]] for "humanity".<ref>((Cite web |title=All Men are Created Equal |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/creating-the-united-states/interactives/declaration-of-independence/equal/index.html |access-date=2022-03-28 |website=[[Library of Congress]]))</ref>

It has also been criticised on grounds of racism. [[Nikole Hannah-Jones]] wrote in ''[[The New York Times]]'' that "the white men who drafted those words did not believe them to be true for the hundreds of thousands of black people in their midst."<ref>((cite news |last1=Hannah-Jones |first1=Nikole |title=Our democracy's founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/black-history-american-democracy.html |work=The New York Times|date=14 August 2019 ))</ref><ref>((cite web |last1=Greene Bowman |first1=Leslie |title=The Paradox of the Declaration of Independence |date=July 2016 |url=https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/every-american-know-paradox-declaration-independence/ |publisher=[[Aspen Institute]]))</ref><ref>((cite web |title=On this July 4th, what does equality mean? |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/07/04/1109667557/on-this-july-4th-what-does-equality-mean |publisher=[[NPR]]))</ref> Historian [[Nicholas Guyatt]] has criticized the "long exile of blacks and Indians from 'all men are created equal'"<ref>((cite book |last1=Guyatt |first1=Nicholas |title=Bind Us Apart How Enlightened Americans Invented Racial Segregation |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press))</ref> and historian [[John Hope Franklin]] also states that "Jefferson didn't mean it when he wrote that all men are created equal. We've never meant it. The truth is we're a bigoted people and always have been".<ref>((cite book |last1=West |first1=Thomas G. |title=Vindicating the Founders Race, Sex, Class, and Justice in the Origins of America |date=2000 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |page=175))</ref>

[[Richard M. Weaver]], in one of the cornerstone works of traditional conservatism, ''[[Ideas Have Consequences]]'' (1948), paraphrased a 19th-century writer, stating that "no man was ever created free and no two men [were] ever created equal". He continued: "The comity of peoples in groups large or small rests not upon this chimerical notion of equality but upon [[Fraternity (philosophy)|fraternity]], a concept which long antedates it in history because it goes immeasurably deeper in human sentiment. The ancient feeling of brotherhood carries obligations of which equality knows nothing. It calls for respect and protection, for brotherhood is status in family, and family is by nature hierarchical."<ref name="WEA">Weaver, Richard. Ideas Have Consequences. 41-42. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971. ((ISBN|0-226-87678-0))</ref>

=== Slavery ===

((More citations needed|section|date=April 2023))
The contradiction between the claim that "all men are created equal" and the existence of American slavery, including [[Thomas Jefferson and slavery|Thomas Jefferson himself owning slaves]], attracted comment when the Declaration of Independence was first published. Before final approval, Congress, having made a few alterations to some of the wording, also deleted nearly a fourth of the draft, including a passage criticizing the slave trade. At that time many other members of Congress also owned slaves, which clearly factored into their decision to delete the controversial "anti-slavery" passage.<ref name=AFP>Armitage, David. The Declaration Of Independence: A Global History. 76–77. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2007. ((ISBN|978-0-674-02282-9))</ref><ref>((cite web |url=https://www.history.com/news/declaration-of-independence-deleted-anti-slavery-clause-jefferson |title=Why Thomas Jefferson's Anti-Slavery Passage Was Removed from the Declaration of Independence |last=Williams |first=Yohuru |date=June 29, 2020 |website=history.com |publisher=[[History (American TV network)|History]] |access-date=April 17, 2023))</ref>

Jefferson argued many cases to free enslaved people. In ''Howell v. Netherland'' (April 1770), the most famous of these, Jefferson argued for the freedom of Samuel Howell, a mixed-race indentured servant, but was unsuccessful.<ref>((Cite web |title=Jefferson, Thomas and the Practice of Law – Encyclopedia Virginia |url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/jefferson-thomas-and-the-practice-of-law/#heading3 |access-date=2022-04-28 |language=en-US))</ref> In writing the declaration, Jefferson believed the phrase "all men are created equal" to be self-evident, and would ultimately resolve slavery.((Citation needed|date=March 2022)) In 1776, [[abolitionist]] [[Thomas Day (writer)|Thomas Day]] wrote: "If there be an object truly ridiculous in nature, it is an American patriot, signing resolutions of independency with the one hand, and with the other brandishing a whip over his affrighted slaves."<ref name=AFP/> The phrase was further used by [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] in his 1963 ''[[I Have a Dream]]'' speech, emphasizing it as part of the "American dream" which he hoped would someday be fulfilled.<ref>((cite web|url=https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm# |title=Martin Luther King, Jr.: ''I Have a Dream'' |last=King, Jr. |first=Martin Luther |date=August 28, 1963 |website=americanrhetoric.com |publisher=American Rhetoric |access-date=April 17, 2023))</ref>

=== Responses to criticism ===

==== Early ====
Senator [[Benjamin Wade]] defended the phrase in 1854, stating that all men are created equal in the sense that they are "equal in point of right" so "no man has a right to trample upon another".<ref name=":2" /> According to [[Abraham Lincoln]], the founders did not mean that "all were equal in color, size, intellect, moral developments, or social capacity" but rather that everyone was equal in having "certain inalienable rights, among which are [[Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness|life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness]]".<ref name=":2" />

==== Contemporary ====
Also in defense of the phrase, [[Stanford University]] historian [[Jack Rakove]] said that the [[Founding Fathers of the United States|founders]] were not referring to the equality of individuals but to the right to self-government enjoyed by all peoples. It was only later, in the decades following the Revolution, said Rakove, that the statement came to be interpreted in reference to personal liberties.<ref>((cite web |url=https://news.stanford.edu/press-releases/2020/07/01/meaning-declaratnce-changed-time/ |title=When Thomas Jefferson penned 'all men are created equal,' he did not mean individual equality, says Stanford scholar |last=De Witte |first=Melissa |date=July 1, 2020 |website=stanford.edu |publisher=Stanford News Service, [[Stanford University]] |access-date=April 17, 2023))</ref>

==Legacy==
The [[Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam]], written in 1945, uses the phrase "all men are created equal" and also mentions the [[U.S. Declaration of Independence]] in it.<ref>((cite book |title=World History: Journeys from Past to Present |date=2013 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=165))</ref>

The [[Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence]], ratified in November 1965, is based on the American one, however, it omits the phrase "all men are created equal", along with "[[Consent of the governed|the consent of the governed]]".<ref>((cite book|title=The Constitutional History and Law of Southern Rhodesia 1888–1965, with Special Reference to Imperial Control|last=Palley|first=Claire|year=1966|edition=First|location=Oxford|publisher=[[Oxford University Press|Clarendon Press]]|oclc=406157|page=750))</ref><ref>((cite book|title=Sourcebook on Public International Law|url=https://archive.org/details/sourcebookonpubl00hill|url-access=limited|last=Hillier|first=Tim|year=1998|edition=First|location=London & Sydney|publisher=Cavendish Publishing|isbn=1-85941-050-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/sourcebookonpubl00hill/page/n243 207]))</ref><ref>((cite book|title=Collective Responses to Illegal Acts in International Law: United Nations action in the question of Southern Rhodesia|last=Gowlland-Debbas|first=Vera|publisher=[[Martinus Nijhoff Publishers]]|location=Leiden and New York|year=1990|edition=First|isbn=0-7923-0811-5|page=71))</ref>

The sentiment of the phrase, although not the exact wording, is echoed in numerous subsequent declarations of rights, including the UN Declaration of Human rights, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,<ref>((cite web | url=https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-12.html | title=Consolidated federal laws of canada, THE CONSTITUTION ACTS, 1867 to 1982 | date=7 August 2020 ))</ref> German's Basic Laws,<ref>((cite web | url=https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/englisch_gg.html | title=Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany ))</ref> the Constitution of Algeria,<ref>((cite web | url=https://constituteproject.org/constitutions?lang=en&status=in_force&status=is_historic&status=is_draft&compare=Algeria_2016&compare=Algeria_2020 | title=Algeria 1989 (Reinst. 1996, rev. 2016) vs. Algeria 2020 on Constitute ))</ref> and many other constitutions.

The phrase often serves as the first, or one of the first, rights listed in enumerations of rights, as a framing for all subsequent rights. Since Declarations of rights are often applied to all people, as natural [[human rights]], the phrase emphasizes that all rights listed after it apply equally to every person.<ref>((Cite web |title=Human Rights Day: All Human, All Equal |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2021/11/human-rights-day-all-human-all-equal |website=www.ohchr.org))</ref><ref>Sepulveda, Magdalena; van Banning, Theo; Gudmundsdottir, Gudrun D.; Chamoun, Christine; van Genugten, Willem J.M. (2004). Human Rights Reference Handbook (3rd ed.). University for Peace. ISBN 9977925186</ref>

==See also==
* [[Equality before the law]]
* French [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] (1789), article 1: "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good."
* [[Political egalitarianism|Political equality]]
* [[Second-class citizen]]
* [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] (1948), article 1: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights..."

==References==
((reflist|30em))

==Bibliography==
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* ((cite book |last=Armitage |first=David |author-link=David Armitage (historian) |title=The Declaration of Independence: A Global History |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2007 |location=Cambridge, MA |url=https://archive.org/details/declarationofind00armi/ |isbn=978-0-674-02282-9))
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* ((cite book |last1=Bearn |first1=Gordon C.F. |title=Life Drawing: A Deleuzean Aesthetics of Existence |publisher=[[Fordham University Press]]))
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* ((cite book |last=Gowlland-Debbas |first=Vera |title=Collective Responses to Illegal Acts in International Law: United Nations action in the question of Southern Rhodesia |publisher=[[Martinus Nijhoff Publishers]] |location=Leiden and New York |year=1990| edition=First|isbn=0-7923-0811-5))
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* ((cite book |last=Oberle |first=Lora Polack |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4VzETYpczF8C&pg=PA39 |title=The Declaration of Independence |date=2002 |publisher=Capstone Publishers |isbn=978-0-7368-1095-1 |language=en))
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* ((cite book|last=Palley |first=Claire |title=The Constitutional History and Law of Southern Rhodesia 1888–1965, with Special Reference to Imperial Control |year=1966 |edition=First |location=Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Press|Clarendon Press]] |oclc=406157))
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* ((cite book |last=Tierney |first=Brian |date=1982 |title=Religion, Law, and the Growth of Constitutional Thought, 1150-1650 |publisher=Cambridge University Press))
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* ((cite book |last1=Zinn |first1=Howard |title=[[A People's History of the United States]] |publisher=Harper Collins|isbn = 9780062466679|date = 2015))
* ((cite book |last1=Bearn |first1=Gordon C.F. |title=Life Drawing: A Deleuzean Aesthetics of Existence |publisher=[[Fordham University Press]]))

==Further reading==
* ((Cite journal |last=Maier |first=Pauline |date=1999-06-01 |title=The Strange History of "All Men Are Created Equal" |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/wlulr/vol56/iss3/8 |journal=Washington & Lee Law Review |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=873))

==External links==
* [http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/ltrcommo.htm Letter Addressed to the Commonalty of Scotland by John Knox, 1558 – an early historical occurrence of the phrase "all men are equal"] ((Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201220083751/http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/ltrcommo.htm |date=2020-12-20 ))

((Historical American Documents))
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((DEFAULTSORT:All Men Are Created Equal))
[[Category:Concepts in ethics]]
[[Category:Egalitarianism]]
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[[Category:English phrases]]
[[Category:United States Declaration of Independence]]
[[Category:Ethical principles]]
[[Category:Humanism]]
[[Category:Political quotes]]
[[Category:1770s neologisms]]

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