Democracy in the United States

Democracy in the United States is based upon principles laid down in the American Declaration of Independence promulgated in 1776. The primary principle in that document is the principle of equality as stated in the phrases "all men are created equal" and all men are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights." The American version of the democratic political philosophy holds that all humans are born with equal rights and as such are entitled to equal treatment. Some Americans do not believe in that principle and while the United States itself does not perfectly meet that standard, nevertheless it is generally acknowledged by many Americans that the principle of equal rights is valid and should be observed and enforced in their society.

Basic to the American version of democracy is the belief that human rights are "God given" and do not come from nature or from the state but from God. This viewpoint holds that the idea of creating humans and giving them equal rights had to occur first in the mind of the one doing the creating - God. The concept of being "created equal" originated with the Creator and it presupposes the existence of the Creator as does the concept of being "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights." Both concepts are stated in the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Many Americans believe that document clearly establishes God as the author of human rights.

Thomas Jefferson was the primary author of the American Declaration of Independence, but it was Abraham Lincoln who clearly defined the principle of equality as Americans and others understand it today. Jefferson owned several hundred slaves all during his life and while he is greatly honored, among other things, for urging all people of the world to reject tyranny, nevertheless it is reasonably certain he did not believe that all persons were entitled to equal rights, only to "certain rights," the phrase he wrote in the Declaration. But Abraham Lincoln believed that all persons everywhere were entitled to "equal rights" and that is how Lincoln chose to interpret what he referred to as "Jefferson's principle." In a speech of July 17, 1858, prior to the commencement of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Lincoln said "I do not understand the Declaration to mean that all men were created equal in all respects... but I suppose that it does mean that all men are equal in some respects; they are equal in their right to 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,'" the doctrine of equal rights for all. His opponent in the Illinois senatorial election of that year, Stephen Douglas, interpreted the Declaration to mean among other things that only white men were entitled to govern. Lincoln accused Douglas of engaging in a conspiracy to nationalize slavery . He changed the phrase "certain rights" to mean in actuality equal rights. His interpretation was not only eventually accepted by almost all Americans, but it is also accepted by democratists in many parts of the world.

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