Document A: Declaration of Independence (Focus on the Principle of EQUALITY)

1. Which of the four beliefs is highlighted in this document?

The equality of all people. Equality. The other three are: unalienable rights, consent of the governed, and the right to change or abolish government.

What does 'equality' mean to Diana Pham?

Diana Pham is an immigrant woman who came to the U.S. in 1980, fleeing the horror of communist Vietnam. Here in the U.S. her daughters were able to learn at school and attend really great universities, where they had equal opportunity to succeed as boys did. For Ms. Pham, equality means OPPORTUNITY for her family to become whatever THEY want to be without being told by a government what to do.

How might you argue this document to argue that 'equality' is the most important ideal in the Declaration of Independence?

I think that equality is the primary ideal, out of which all of the other ones are based. Without equality as the FIRST and MOST important right, it might be easy for others to try to take away your human and civil rights (not see them as 'inalienable). If a certain group or class is better than others (if there is no equality) the class that thinks it's better will try to control everyone else. So without equality the people have no right to decide how they want to be governed and no ability to change or abolish government if they don't like it or it gets out of control.

What do you think this principle meant to most Americans in 1776?

It probably meant to MOST people that property/land owning, European-descendant men were all created equal.

What does 'men' mean to the 260 women and 40 men present at Seneca Falls?

Seneca Falls was a convention where people who believed women should have the same legal rights as men gathered. So the people at that convention all believed that women should have exactly the same rights as men under American law.