Paradoxes Entailed in America’s Self Evident Truths 1

The Paradoxes Entailed in America’s “Self Evident” Truths

Isn’t it strange that slavery existed in the United States of America despite the self

evident truths in the Declaration of Independence. Self-evident, as defined in Merriam

Webster Online Dictionary, is an adjective meaning “evident without proof or reasoning”

The self evident truths stated in the Declaration of Independence are, “all men are

created equal, they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that

among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, (The Declaration of

Independence). Slavery goes against all of these self evident truths. None of these

applied to those that were slaves or born to slaves as they were not free and did not get

to enjoy these “unalienable rights” given to them by their Creator.

If these “unalienable rights” are given to all men by their Creator this would mean

that a power greater than any man has allowed each of us these rights. How, then,

could any man take these rights from any other man? In My Bondage, My Freedom by

Frederick Douglas he talks about how much free-er a young slave boy was than a young

non- slave child. This is probably the only time in a slave’s life they feel true freedom

and that is only because of ignorance of adolecense. Frederick Douglas explains the

efforts of slave owners to abolish all ideas of family saying, “The practice of separating

children from their mother, and hiring the latter out at distances too great to admit of

their meeting, except at long intervals, is a marked feature of the cruelty and barbarity of

the slave system. But it is in harmony with the grand aim of slavery, which, always and

everywhere, is to reduce a man to a level with the brute. It is a successful method of

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obliterating from the mind and heart of the slave, all just ideas of the sacredness of the

family as an institution”, (p.37,38, My Bondage and my freedom).

The hard hitting words in that exe rcpt are cruelty and barbarity. Those are exact

opposites of happiness. We, according to the declaration of independence, are allowed

the pursuit of happiness in which no slave was allowed to partake in. They were

allowed to be property in the pursuit of someone else’s happiness. “The key issue in

political philosophy is the legitimacy of government and that of social philosophy is the

problem of justice”, (p.333, Does the Center Hold?). Slavery discredits the legitimacy of

government. It is making exception for people of color in which no credited institution

does.

In making men slaves either by birth or by bringing them to the United States we are

not upholding the self evident truth of all men being created equal. All men, not some

men, not those men, all men, are created equal. Why then did we see it our right to

enslave these men and women and children? Under our laws they are free. They are

human beings therefore they should be allowed to receive the self evident truths just like

their slaveowners and their families.

How now do I defend the other side of this paradox. Ignorance. That could be the

only proper argument for why we as a people did this. We didn’t know any better.

Anything different is viewed as dangerous. We thought we were superior because of

our educations and armies and modern settlements with government and law. We

looked upon them as if they were less than us because of the way they chose to live

their lives. They didn’t use modern weapons or the english language. They also
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dressed and behaved differently. We used our advantages to control these peaceful

people in the same way we did with the American Indians. Do these control tactics stem

from fear and insecurity within our own American government?

Obviously history has proven that slavery was wrong and has long since been

abolished by one of the greatest presidents of all time Abraham Lincoln. At the time a

lot of American citizens were very opposed to the idea of the abolition of slavery.

Abraham Lincoln will later die for what some say is this very opposition. He did what he

knew was right. He knew that he was going to uphold America’s self-evident truths no

matter what the cost. He set an example for future leaders of this great nation.

Frederick Douglass describes his time as a slave as “dragging a heavy chain, with a

huge block attached to it, cumbering my every motion”, (p.337, My Bondage My

Freedom). Rousseau states, “Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains”, (p.333,

Does the Center Hold?). Its interesting that Rousseau is talking of life of an average

person and Douglass is speaking of life as a slave. Why are their statements so

similar? Once released from slavery the new free citizens are entering into another form

of control under the American government. In order to remain free they must abide by

the laws laid down by another master, the government. We are to believe that these

laws and order laid down by men for men are there to enrich our lives and allow us to

have a happy, peaceful life. Rousseau viewed these as chains. Hobbes states they are

a necessary evil, (p. 347, Does the Center Hold?). I agree with Hobbes. And I would

definitely be abiding by laws the same as my neighbor rather than being their property
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so I definitely believe Douglass had it better as a free man no matter what laws or rules

he had to abide by.

Slavery contradicts everything stated in the self-evident truths. When we were

partaking in the act of slavery we were not allowing all men to be equal. All men are

created by the Creator therefore are equal. This does not mean you can separate men

by their looks, beliefs, or way of life. If they are born a man they are equal to all other

men. “They are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among

these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” These are the freedoms that made

America the great nation it was for the first settlers fleeing for religious freedom. Now

were we the ones forcing others to conform for our benefit when that is how America

was founded in the first place. When did our perspective change? When we got a little

bit of power? What happened to the ideals America was founded on? Although the

majority of American citizens didn’t think there was anything wrong with slavery a few

saw it for what it really was. They decided to be brave and stand up for what they knew

was right. Maybe it was their soul telling them the right thing to do, as Socrates would

say.

A paradox is a contradiction in beliefs. One paradox in America’s self-evident truths

is slavery. Slavery contradicts all of the self-evident truths. The growth and change

America has gone through throughout history is astounding. We continue to evolve as a

people and the transformation keeps on going. During the abolition of slavery we came

together as a people and became the society we are today. We still aren’t where we
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need to be but we are better than we were. Seeing how much we are capable of when

we stick together for the common good and uphold the self-evident truths laid out by our

forefathers gives us hope that we will overcome any adversity we face. America is one

of the greatest nations because of the freedoms it allows its citizens. Some groups are

still fighting for the same rights given to all Americans but we are well on our way to

making these things a possibility for all citizens. America will continue to grow and

become a better place to live as long as we all keep in mind the simple self-evident

truths.