Question

How did the Declaration of Independence raise questions about slavery?

Answer 1

Hint: We need to know that The United States Declaration of Independence was published by Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. He aimed to create a new nation based on individual freedom and self-government. He was influenced by Locke's philosophy and called slavery an abdominal crime. This raised questions about slavery in the Declaration of Independence.

Complete answer:
1. The Declaration of Independence mentioned an assertion that “all men are created equal” which means no individual was created as a ruler or slave. This raised questions about slavery as the basic idea of slavery was the ownership of a human being by another human being. Jefferson who wrote the declaration was a slave owner till the day he died. He didn’t free his slaves though he didn’t believe in slavery.
2. The economy of the Southern was majorly dependent on slavery but the ideals of the declaration demanded people to be free and have the right to be their own authoritarian. The practice of slavery went against the message of liberty and the notion that all men are created equal was proved wrong.
3. The document raised questions because it ensured that the slaves will have to fight in the revolution and the laws will grant rights to the slaves but the message didn’t coordinate with the idea that was practiced.
4. The entire Southern region in America was based on the practice of slavery and it was a major contributor to the economy. Therefore the ideologies present in the Declaration didn’t match the real-time practices that were carried in the States for the past several centuries. This raised questions about slavery after Jefferson published the Declaration of Independence.

Note: We need to remember that John Locke proposed an idea that ‘all men are created equal and no one was created as a ruler or a slave by the supreme power, The God.’ Jefferson got influenced by this ideology and the same was mentioned in the Declaration of Independence.