Featuring: Larry Kenneth AlexanderÂ
Transcript:
The Declaration of Independence of July 1776 is a three-part revolutionary manifesto revoking British allegiance, justifying independence, and establishing the foundation for a new nation. It was contemplated and designed to communicate its message to multiple audiences: the British government, the colonists, and the broader international community. In the preamble section, the Founding Fathers explained the philosophical basis for independence, focusing on natural rights and the purpose of government. The Declaration’s grievance section listed the evidence and injustices committed by England’s King George III and British rule against the 13 colonies. In the final section, the Founding Fathers officially declared the 13 colonies’ separation from the Kingdom of Great Britain, asserting their status as free and independent states with full power to govern themselves.
It was not a casual declaration. At its core, the Declaration of Independence is a historic, three-part, standalone legal document that does not rely on outside documentation to be understood by its audiences as to its purpose or pronouncements. But let us confront the historical dispute concerning its most iconic phrase, “All men are created equal,” and the pretended exclusion of all Black colonials. This phrase in the preamble carried a plain and straightforward meaning to its contemporary audiences. The British Imperial government, 10 years earlier in 1766, had abolished colonial America’s slave codes and Negro laws. In 1772, the English High Court declared slavery was incompatible with the law of the kingdom. Yet, as the ink dried on this 1776 Declaration of Equality, some signers betrayed its promise. They claimed Black colonials were excluded from this revolutionary ideal because they were slaves. Others stood silent, their moral courage faltering even as their political courage surged.
The unity Benjamin Franklin demanded of his fellow revolutionaries, “We must all hang together, or most certainly we will all hang separately,” came at a devastating moral cost. Fearful that England’s recruitment of Black colonials into military service in the defense of the Crown might topple the rebellion, even abolitionist-minded patriots like Massachusetts’ John Adams set the issue of slavery aside. And so, Black colonials, who shared the same legal rank and status as their white counterparts under English law, paid a horrific price. This failure, a calculated compromise, laid the foundation for centuries of systemic injustice and oppression. Yet, even amidst this tragic hypocrisy, the Declaration remains a resolute weapon for justice today.
As a standalone legal document, it does not rely on interpretation to validate its purpose or pronouncements during colonial times. We merely need to look at its grievances against King George III, its acknowledgment that “valuable laws” were abolished, and Congress’s adoption of English legal precedent to recognize that Black colonials were fastened to this promise of equality that America denied to them and their descendants. The phrase “all men are created equal” was a statement of legal fact, not just a philosophical ideal. It applies to all who lived, endured, and sacrificed in that colonial world, Black and white alike. Let us honor it by ensuring that its words finally encompass the humanity of all people, as they were always meant to do.
For if we are to stand as a nation worthy of its founding ideals, we must deliver on the promise that the 57 signers could not: freedom, equality, and justice for all. The Declaration is not just a relic of revolution but a challenge. It calls on us to reckon with its contradictions, to expand its promise, and to redeem its vision. Please share and visit our website at Wells Center on American Exceptionalism and look for future videos in this series.