“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” On July Fourth, we celebrate much more than our independence from Great Britain. Our Founding Fathers risked their lives and reputations in the American Revolution to establish a government based on universal, permanent principles of justice.
At the core of these principles was the claim of human equality. By equality, the Founders did not mean all humans possessed the exact same number or level of talents, virtues, or vices. Instead, they declared three basic truths flowing from and describing human equality.