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The quotation "All men are created equal" has been called an "immortal declaration," and "perhaps () single phrase" of the American Revolutionary period with the greatest "continuing importance."〔See, e.g., Jack P. Greene, ''All Men Are Created Equal: Some Reflections on the Character of the American Revolution'' (1976). p. 5: "Perhaps no single phrase from the Revolutionary era has had such continuing importance in American public life as the dictum 'all men are created equal'".〕〔John Wynne Jeudwine, ''Pious Phrases in Politics: An Examination of Some Popular Catchwords, their Misuse and Meanings'' (1919), p. 27, quoting Senator Lyman Trumbull of Illinois, author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as referencing the "immortal declaration that all men are created equal".〕 Thomas Jefferson first used the phrase in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which he penned in 1776 during the beginning of the American Revolution. It was thereafter quoted and incorporated into speeches by a wide array of substantial figures in American political and social life in the United States. The final form of the phrase was stylized by Benjamin Franklin.〔Peterson, Merrill. ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation: A biography''. p90. Oxford University Press, 1970.〕 ==Origin of Thomas Jefferson's use of the phrase== Thomas Jefferson, at the age of 33, may have also borrowed the expression from an Italian friend and neighbor, Philip Mazzei,〔Philip Mazzei, The Virginia Gazette, 1774. Translated by a friend and neighbor, Thomas Jefferson: Jefferson may also have been influenced by Thomas Paine's ''Common Sense''. 〕 as noted by Joint Resolution 175 of the 103rd Congress as well as by John F. Kennedy in ''A Nation of Immigrants''.〔According to Joint Resolution 175 of the 103rd Congress, "the phrase in the Declaration of Independence 'All men are created equal' was suggested by the Italian patriot and immigrant Philip Mazzei. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=103_cong_bills&docid=f:hj175eh.pdf〕〔"The great doctrine 'All men are created equal' incorporated into the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, was paraphrased from the writing of Philip Mazzei, an Italian-born patriot and pamphleteer, who was a close friend of Jefferson." by John F. Kennedy, ''A Nation of Immigrants'' pp. 15-16〕 In 1776 the Second Continental Congress asked Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman to write the Declaration of Independence. This Committee of Five voted to have Thomas Jefferson write the document. After Jefferson finished he gave the document to Franklin to proof. Franklin suggested minor changes, and one of them stands out far more than the others. Jefferson had written, "We hold these truths to be sacred and un-deniable..." Franklin changed it to, "We hold these truths to be self-evident." The second paragraph of the United States Declaration of Independence starts as follows: The Virginia Declaration of Rights, chiefly authored by George Mason and approved by the Virginia Convention on June 12, 1776, contains the wording: George Mason was an elder-planter who had originally stated John Locke's theory of natural rights: Mason's draft was accepted by a small committee and then rejected by the Virginia Convention. Thomas Jefferson, a competent Virginia lawyer, saw this as a problem in legal writing and chose words that were more acceptable to the Second Continental Congress. The Massachusetts Constitution, chiefly authored by John Adams in 1780, contains in its Declaration of Rights the wording: The plaintiffs in the cases of ''Brom and Bett v. John Ashley'' and ''Commonwealth v. Nathaniel Jennison'' argued that this provision abolished slavery in Massachusetts. The latter case resulted in a "sweeping declaration . . . that the institution of slavery was incompatible with the principles of liberty and legal equality articulated in the new Massachusetts Constitution".〔(The Massachusetts Constitution, Judicial Review and Slavery — The Quock Walker Case ), Massachusetts Judicial Branch (2007).〕 The phrase has since been considered a hallmark statement in democratic constitutions and similar human rights instruments, many of which have adopted the phrase or variants thereof.〔UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Preamble: Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity, and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world & Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. - http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「All men are created equal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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