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Within the context of the Declaration of Independence, the definition of equality had a different connotation than it has today. The rights referred to in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States did not originally take into consideration the rights of slaves, women, or minorities (Sigler). In 1868, the 14 th Amendment was created to protect the rights of freed slaves and settle issues of Congressional representation, but its full impact would not be felt until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960 s (Finkleman). For the purposes of the founders of the country, the idea that all men were created equal in terms of basic human rights under the laws and governance of its country became the argument for revolution. The Declaration of Independence clearly states that not only are all men created equal, but that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness.
The importance of the Declaration of Independence is not that it defines what equality means for all people, but that it recognizes a need for basic human rights, and provides a standard for future governing of America (Sigler). By defining the authority of government, the assertion of equality and basic human rights became the framework for not only the American Revolution, but also for the future government of the new nation. According to the Declaration of Independence, the framers established the principle that, Governments are instituted by Men, deriving the just powers from the consent of the governed. As Sigler points out, the Declaration of Independence did not establish new rights for Americans, but instead was directed at the abuses of the English king.
For the Colonists, equality established that their basic human rights could not be abused by a ruler without their consent, and that when that did occur, they had the right to revolt against this abuse (Sigler). Based on the framers standards of equality and representative government, their argument for revolt was valid. Until the Colonists could be participants in their government, they would continue to be subject to the whims and abuses of the English king. The equality stated in the Declaration of Independence became the basic framework for the Constitution and for the representative government in America. While this was not a perfect equality, it was necessary for the framers to establish the need for basic human rights as a people and a nation.
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Research essay sample on Basic Human Rights Declaration Of Independence