There are plenty of incidents observed in history where someone says a bold statement, but doesn't actually mean it, or means something a little different. Thomas Jefferson was no exception when he said "All men are created equal". Hearing this statement would lead one to believe that Thomas Jefferson was referring to literally all living men and women at the time. However, as we dive deeper into the story, we can see that this was clearly not the case. It wasn't that Jefferson's lied when he made his statement, it was that his classification of the word "men" was indeed quite different from others classification. Thomas Jefferson considered "men" to be based on things like being white, European, owing property, being male, following a certain religion, and being educated. These requirements obviously mean that the people Jefferson considers "men" is definitely a lot less than all of mankind, in fact, it is more like a few specific groups of people.
Upon reflection, modern readers may accuse Jefferson for hypocrisy through his statement, However, did Jefferson really do anything wrong? He used words in his statement that held a specifically different meaning for him. How many times might have we done the same thing? When we use idioms and figures of speech, do we stop and consider if our audience completely understands us, or whether they misunderstand and assume something else? The world today is extremely diverse, with many barriers, such as language, culture, and religion, so it is no surprise if someone from a different background understands your words or actions as something different, Jefferson's statement actually teaches us that we should be careful of what we say, especially when addressing an audience. But it also teaches us to take some time to study other people's cultures and religion, so that we can understand and have better communication with them, for communication is what truly unites the world.
This connects to world lit because Jon Winthrop also spoke of liberty for all men, however he took a different approach by describing the different types of liberty, and yet, he sincerely meant "for all men" when delivering this speech.
Upon reflection, modern readers may accuse Jefferson for hypocrisy through his statement, However, did Jefferson really do anything wrong? He used words in his statement that held a specifically different meaning for him. How many times might have we done the same thing? When we use idioms and figures of speech, do we stop and consider if our audience completely understands us, or whether they misunderstand and assume something else? The world today is extremely diverse, with many barriers, such as language, culture, and religion, so it is no surprise if someone from a different background understands your words or actions as something different, Jefferson's statement actually teaches us that we should be careful of what we say, especially when addressing an audience. But it also teaches us to take some time to study other people's cultures and religion, so that we can understand and have better communication with them, for communication is what truly unites the world.
This connects to world lit because Jon Winthrop also spoke of liberty for all men, however he took a different approach by describing the different types of liberty, and yet, he sincerely meant "for all men" when delivering this speech.
I think your analysis of Thomas Jefferson was very thorough and what you said about the real meaning of "all men" makes someone think, that if this core belief of our country was flawed, how many others were not really saying what they mean? How many other pillars of our liberty can be looked at as hypocritical
ReplyDeleteFrom what I understand from this entry is that Jefferson took a more literal standpoint to his claim "all men are created equal". I do think that that the richer property owning white men were regarded more highly, but the other white men were originally morally equal to them although not in influence and power, through religion or property. I think he meant that all white men are created equal, with differentiating lives that separate them.
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