Jefferson's World
"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." This was the start to Lincoln's famed Gettysburg address. The reference that the United States was created under the ideals of all men being created equal was in reference to The Declaration of Independence. "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal..." Wrote Thomas Jefferson. When Jefferson wrote the constitution, he thought about many questions: What is a good country? How should people live together as a nation? Should this new country have a monarchy or republic? How do we address slavery? Interestingly, at the time he was attended by a slave servant, Bob Hemmings, who served him tea as he worked (Sirene 37-38). The question we can ask ourselves today is; was the United States truly based on these statements? I believe this answer to be yes because the thoughts of the culture then have no relevance to the current culture that we live in today. Ethical egoism made him "hold [his] truths to be self-evident." Our culture has developed through time. People are open-minded and over time their
When Lincoln made that famed speech in 1863, Lincoln never puzzled over whether or not Jefferson was ethical. Lincoln agreed that these were truths that were self-evident and did not doubt that all men are created equal. The words that Jefferson wrote were true, it was just his beliefs that differed. This does not make Jefferson unethical. He was living in a time of Ethical Egoism. There was a different moral code back in 1776 than there is today. The culture back in Jefferson's time was completely different to today's culture. Through open-mindedness, we have evolved into today's culture of accepting African Americans as equals. When we think of Thomas Jefferson, we can not discredit his intentions for writing the Declaration of Independence. Because his moral nature was good, he was being ethical. I've got 423 dairy farmers in my district, and I've got to rise above principle. Through open-mindedness, our culture has changed. As quoted in Rachels, Herodotus states, " Everyone without exception believes his own native customs, and the religion he was brought up in to the be the best." This allows us to believe that we are raised with a set of values, ethics, and opinions. This set of values, ethics, and opinions can only be changed through conditioning throughout our lives. An example of this can be found in my life. I was raised to believe that gays and lesbians were of a distraught group of people. That through sexual confusion something had gone horribly wrong in order for them to conclude that they were gay. Realizing that my way of thing was behind the times, I would not criticize homosexuals publicly. I was what James Rachels would describe as a "thoughtful" person (33). After years of conditioning, my views slowly began to change. I became open-minded and now I am of the current consensus that they were born that way and that if the! -Ronald Reagan, speaking against the Equal Rights Amendment. -Geo
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1317
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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