USA HISTORY

LIFE IN ANTEBELLUM AMERICA 1807 1861

SLAVERY IN AMERICA COTTON SLAVE TRADE AND THE SOUTHERN RESPONSE

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
In the Declaration of Independence, what percentage of enslaved people were included in the line “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.”
A
0%
B
25%
C
50%
D
75%
E
100%
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -The central claim that “all men are created equal” had profound implications for the American regime of liberty. The “self-evident truth” of human equality meant that humans had equal natural rights, equally gave their consent to create a republican government, had equal dignity, and were equal under the law.

Detailed explanation-2: -56 delegates to the Continental Congress signed the engrossed Declaration of Independence.

Detailed explanation-3: -What isn’t widely known, however, is that Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, in an early version of the Declaration, drafted a 168-word passage that condemned slavery as one of the many evils foisted upon the colonies by the British crown. The passage was cut from the final wording.

Detailed explanation-4: -When Thomas Jefferson penned “all men are created equal, ” he did not mean individual equality, says Stanford scholar. When the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, it was a call for the right to statehood rather than individual liberties, says Stanford historian Jack Rakove.

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