Independence, Equality & Human Rights
Rights: What exactly were the colonists fighting for?
In 1765, tension was building between the 13 Colonies and the British Empire. Parliament believed that the British Crown, King George III, had a divine right granted by God to rule over all of the British Empire, including the 13 Colonies. This divine right included the right to tax them, but the 13 Colonies did not see things the same way. They believed that all men were created equal by God and that they had the right to be free.
This disagreement on equality and rights grew and grew until the American Revolutionary War broke out on April 19, 1775, at the Battles of Lexington and Concord. After a year of the 13 Colonies being at war with Britain, they were ready to declare their independence.
The statement that ‘all men are created equal’ is a belief as well as a fundamental truth. The belief part is that all humans are born free and the truth part is that all people should be equal.
July 4th, 1776
The Continental Congress declared that the 13 Colonies were free and independent states through the writing of the Declaration of Independence. We think of this date as the birthdate of our nation.
The Declaration stated the Continental Congress’ beliefs in regard to the rights of men and faith. In its second sentence, the Declaration of Independence says that all men are created equal and are given rights by their Creator:
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.
– Declaration of Independence.
The statement that all men are created equal is the belief that all people are born free and that God has created all people equally. This is contrary to the belief that monarchs, such as King George III are granted authority directly from God and are not created equal to other people, but are born superior.
Although this belief fit the Patriot’s argument for independence from the British Crown, it was not until later centuries that laws would begin to grant more rights to African Americans and women.
Unalienable rights are rights that are not granted by laws or by the rules of a culture or community (known as customs). Rather, they are natural rights granted by God that all humans are born with and cannot be taken away.
Being endowed by their Creator means just that – they are rights given to all humans by God. The phrase provides three examples of such natural rights – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
- The right to life means that humans have the right to live and the right to not be killed.
- The right to liberty means that humans have a right to freedom, a right to be free.
- The right “pursuit of happiness” means that humans have the right to be happy.
