all men are created equal
Universal human dignity
All men are created equal is a phrase from the American Declaration of Independence asserting that no person is born with inherent superiority over another—a foundational principle of democratic thought.
The statement has been invoked to challenge slavery, expand voting rights, and argue for equal treatment under law, even as critics note the gap between ideal and practice: The founders wrote that all men are created equal while owning slaves.
- rule of lawSupremacy of established laws
- voteFormal choice expression
- EnlightenmentEra prioritizing reason over dogma
- antithesisDirect opposite; contrasting juxtaposition
- natural rightsFreedoms inherent to personhood
autonomy · suffrage movement · altruism · abolitionism · founding fathers · founding document · egalitarianism · emancipation · universality · disability advocacy · human dignity · Gettysburg Address · civil rights era · Reconstruction · John Locke · endowed · ballot · Constitution
- Patriotic Phrasesland of the free, home of the brave, stars and stripes, red white and blue, united we stand
- Political QuotesGettysburg Address, Declaration of Independence, Emancipation Proclamation, nothing to fear, malice toward none
- catchphrasescatchphrase, why so serious, cowabunga, good grief, yabba dabba doo
all men are created equaldivine right of kings
Monarchs rule by celestial mandate
caste system · racial hierarchy · white supremacy · master race · hereditary privilege
all men are created equalcaste system
Hereditary class division
untouchability · slavery · apartheid · hereditary nobility · aristocracy