Dong Nai University

Class : English Pedagogy B

Subject : American Literature
Name : Trương Trọng Nhân
Topic :

Analyse and interprete the saying in the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson “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 pursit of happiness”. How important are these rights to people in Thomas
Jefferson’s age and to people in our modern society?

Essay :

Throughout the history of human beings, there were many great speeches that made the world
change. One of them is the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson. In his speech, he claimed
that “That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights
that among these life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, which has significant influence on the
awareness on freedom of mankind. This saying mentioned the unalienable rights of a freedom person that
are necessary for people of any time.

The first thing to be mentioned in the Declaration is the equality, “We hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men are created equal”. Everyone, regardless of class, religion, gender, and eventually race,
is equal before the Creator. No one is better than others. No one was born to be rulers or to be slaves.
Therefore, no one or no government has right to take away these equality. Besides the equality, human
beings “are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these life these life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness”. This states that every man has the right to live and feel safe in his own
country. He does not have to be put under the control of other countries. He has his own freedom to do
what he wants and to pursue what makes him happy but not causes bad effects on other people.

In Thomas Jefferson’s age, the king of Great Britain, King George III, set up tyrannical government
in North America. He was willing to do whatever it took to make sure the American people stayed under
his control. When he lost his control on America, he abandoned the government and raised war against the
country. He had plundered the seas, ravaged the coast, burned the towns and destroyed the lives of
American people. He constrained fellow-citizens and forced them to fight against their country. These went
against the natural laws endowed by the Creator. These made the people feel unsafe with the place where
they were living. They could not decide what they wanted and could not live a happy life.

Unlike that hard time, the people in modern society now can live in safe places protected by their
own government and laws. Liberty now become the center of the concerns of the government. They enforce
the law to protect the freedom of each people. Everyone has the right to own property, has freedom of
speech and of contract, the right to offend and blaspheme, as well as the right to convert and bear witness.
Everyone has been treated equal, no priority whether you are black or white, whether you are male or
female. It is all equal before the laws. People are free to learn what they want, to do the jobs they like, to
find their own happiness. However, somewhere in the modern society, there are still people living in
unfairness, the government still work hard to find out the best solutions to solve their problems. It is just
the matter of time. Therefore, life in the modern society is far better than the hard time in Thomas
Jefferson’s age.

In conclusion, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are always the unalienable rights. They
have a high valuable not only at the time of the Declaration but also at these time, the modern time. Human
cannot live without these rights. Therefore, people in all over the world should join hand to protect these
rights and live a happy life together on earth.