The Declaration of Independence of US Research Paper

The Declaration of Independence of US - Research Paper Example Unfortunately, the words are also almost entirely false as a guide for actual guarantees of the kinds of freedoms espoused in the document, at least as such guarantees might have applied to anyone in the colonial society who was not, like Jefferson, a white, male, wealthy landowner with political and economic connections. In fact, even as Jefferson penned the words, the formal and informal seats of power in the colonies were occupied by men who owned slaves, controlled wealth, and abused the rights of women. How then can Jefferson justify using the words? In this brief essay, the approach of Jefferson and the ruling class that founded the nation to the ideals of political and economic freedoms and equality that they argued for will be reviewed in order to show how they violated the very terms established as reasons for their revolution. Specifically, the ways in which Jefferson and other founding fathers acted against the words of the Declaration in regards to slaves, women and the non-wealthy working classes will be reviewed. Following a review of their actions toward each of these constituent groups, a reevaluation of the language of the Declaration will be conducted and a summary analysis of the ultimate value of the founding principles contained in it will be offered. Although it is difficult to argue against the eloquence of the political principles contained in Jefferson’s words in the Declaration, it is easy to see hypocrisy in his application of those words to the actual realities of his own family and community. In fac t, as Damon Root argues there was a gap between espoused principles and political practices that resulted in an almost perfect paradox as realized in the person and figure of Jefferson. Nowhere was this gap more readily seen than on the issue of slavery. Root claims â€Å"The celebrated author of the Declaration of Independence, which famously declares that ‘all men are created equal’ and are born with the inalienable rights to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ †¦ was also a slaveholder, a man whose livelihood was rooted in the subjugation of hundreds of human beings, including members of his wife’s family and his own.† Having penned words which seemed to indicate that he believed in a form of basic equality among all persons, Jefferson lived a life which did not square with those words because he held in his formal possession as a legal and professional matter the actual freedoms of a large number of persons, both men and wom en. He owned them and could do with them as he pleased, including – among other things – utilizing their physical labor for his economic benefit and utilizing their bodies for his sexual enjoyment. That mere fact, without regard to what kind of slave owner Jefferson actually was, whether he was kind or considerate to those who came under his purview, is enough to suggest that Jefferson either did not take his own words seriously or he believed that they had some application to the broader society, such as the international community, but not to himself. Any other conclusion would require one to find Jefferson simply being an outright hypocrite. Of course, this is one possible interpretation for his actions, and there were those, even in his day, who reached for it. Root