Comments and discussion

In your analysis of “The Declaration of Independence”, you can consider paying more attention to those statements that are interesting or controversial and discussing them in more depth.

The most memorable part of the text is its Preamble (the opening paragraphs), particularly the statement about equal human rights: “…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…” (ll. 13-16)

Today this statement is widely-known around the globe and has become a symbol of American democracy and equal rights. However, the statement is not an original creation of the main author, Thomas Jefferson. He borrowed the idea from British scholar and philosopher John Locke (1632-1704), who described the natural rights of the individual as ‘life, liberty, and estate’.

It is interesting to note that, although the phrase is now fundamental to American democracy, when the Declaration was issued and sent to Britain, the phrase was attacked as hypocritical: British commentators pointed out the irony of declaring universal equality while slavery was still...