Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. NARA ARC Identifier 542069" /> 
How have the words and ideas in the Declaration of Independence impacted human rights around the world?
“ We hold these truths to be self-evident, 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 pursuit of Happiness. ”
Thomas Jefferson
The Declaration of Independence
Second Continental Congress
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
“ Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. ”
Marquis de Lafayette
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The National Assembly
Paris, France
“ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal. ”
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
The Declaration of Rights and Sentiments
Women’s Rights Convention
Seneca Falls, New York
“ Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. ”
President Abraham Lincoln
Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania
“ We believe that it is the inalienable right of the Indian people, as of any other people, to have freedom and to enjoy the fruits of their toil. ”
Mahatma Gandhi
Declaration of Sovereignty and Self-Rule
Indian National Congress
Lahore, Pakistan (then part of India)
“ I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.' ”
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Washington, DC
“ All men are created equal and they are endowed with certain inalienable rights . . . that’s what America is. No matter how hard you try, you cannot erase those words from the Declaration of Independence. ”
Harvey Milk
San Francisco, California
“ We believe -- and we believe it so deeply that Americans know these words by heart -- we believe ``that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among those are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.'' Take an American student or teacher aside later today and ask if he or she hasn't committed those words to memory. They are from the document by which we created our nation, the Declaration of Independence. ”
President Ronald Reagan
Shanghai, China
“ What makes us exceptional -- what makes us American -- is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, 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 pursuit of happiness.' Today we continue a never-ending journey to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. ”
President Barack Obama
Second Inaugural Address
Washington, DC
“ Taking pride in the struggle of our people to gain independence and build the state, to free ourselves from tyranny, to affirm our free will. A political system . that guarantees respect for human rights and freedoms, independence of the judiciary, equality of rights and duties between all citizens, male and female, and equality between all regions. ”
The Constitution of the Tunisian Republic
“ This ball of liberty, I believe […], is now so well in motion that it will roll round the globe. ”
Thomas Jefferson
Letter to Tench Coxe, June 1, 1795
Monticello, Virginia, United States of America
Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. NARA ARC Identifier 542069" />
The Declaration of Independence Around the World
© Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello, 2018
Developed for Monticello by Jacqueline Langholtz.
Accompanying lesson plan available at https://classroom.monticello.org/view/lesson-plan/75542/
All sources last checked on September 24, 2018.
