![]() ![]() According to the Bible, only two, a man and a woman, ever were, and of these one was pronounced subordinate to the other. That asserts that "all men are created equal." The form of expression, though less dangerous, is not less erroneous. If we trace it back, we shall find the proposition differently expressed in the Declaration of Independence. Nor is it less false that they are born "equal." They are not so in any sense in which it can be regarded and thus, as I have asserted, there is not a word of truth in the whole proposition, as expressed and generally understood. They grow to all the freedom of which the condition in which they were born permits, by growing to be men. Besides, they are necessarily born subject to their parents, and remain so among all people, savage and civilized, until the development of their intellect and physical capacity enables them to take care of themselves. While infants they are incapable of freedom, being destitute alike of the capacity of thinking and acting, without which there can be no freedom. And concludes with asserting that they are born "free and equal," which is not less false. ![]() It begins with "all men are born," which is utterly untrue. Taking the proposition literally (it is in that sense it is understood), there is not a word of truth in it. The proposition to which I allude, has become an axiom in the minds of a vast majority on both sides of the Atlantic, and is repeated daily from tongue to tongue, as an established and incontrovertible truth it is, that "all men are born free and equal." I am not afraid to attack error, however deeply it may be intrenched, or however widely extended, whenever it becomes my duty to do so, as I believe it to be on this subject and occasion. If should possess a philosophical turn of mind, and be disposed to look to more remote and recondite causes, he will trace to a proposition which originated in a hypothetical truism, but which, as now expressed and now understood, is the most false and dangerous of all political errors. As you read his speech, consider the logic and proof he marshaled to disprove the common claim that "all men are born free and equal." How did his racial republicanism reflect larger changes in the national debate over slave and free labor? Calhoun went on to say that liberty is something to be earned. ![]() Unlike early republicans, Calhoun found these qualities not in rare selfless individuals or even independent propertied classes, but in the white race itself. Calhoun, South Carolina's leading proponent of slavery, asserted that that the Declaration of Independence was in error when it stated that "all men are created equal." Echoing classical republican themes, he argued that liberty was a prize that should be granted only to those sufficiently moral and worthy. Calhoun on the Error of "All men are created equal" (1848) 1 The Collision Of Cultures 2 Britain And Its Colonies 3 Colonial Ways Of Life 4 The Imperial Perspective 5 From Empire To IndependenceĦ The American Revolution 7 Shaping A Federal Union 8 The Federalist Era 9 The Early Republic 10 Nationalism And Sectionalism 11 The Jacksonian Impulse 12 The Dynamics Of Growth 13 An American Renaissance: Religion, Romanticism, And Reform 14 Manifest Destiny 15 The Old South 16 The Crisis Of Union 17 The War Of The Union 18 Reconstruction: North And South 19 New Frontiers: South And West 20 Big Business And Organized Labor 21 The Emergence Of Urban America 22 Gilded-age Politics And Agrarian Revolt 23 An American Empire 24 The Progressive Era 25 America And The Great War 26 The Modern Temper 27 Republican Resurgence And Decline 28 New Deal America 29 From Isolation To Global War 30 The Second World War 31 The Fair Deal And Containment 32 Through The Picture Window: Society And Culture, 1945–1960 33 Conflict And Deadlock: The Eisenhower Years 34 New Frontiers: Politics And Social Change In The 1960s 35 Rebellion And Reaction In The 1960s And 1970s 36 A Conservative Insurgency 37 Triumph And Tragedy: America At The Turn Of The Century ![]()
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