We will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this year. The document begins with a paragraph saying that the colonists did not want to continue as a colony, and they felt that it was important to explain why. It goes onboard to say this: “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.” This sentence expresses one of the core foundational values of the United States of America: equality.
Understanding the sentence
The Declaration of Independence can be hard for modern readers to understand. It’s been 250 years since it was written, and English has changed. The sentence starts by saying that they’re about to list some facts that they think are self-evident — that is, nobody has to prove them. It should be obvious to everyone. One of those things, they say, is that all of us are equal. Our creator, they say, gave us basic rights that no government can take away.
Their first list of these basic rights includes life — so nobody should take another person’s life — liberty, or freedom, and the chance to make choices that will provide a happy life.
How were they doing?
The founding fathers weren’t actually that great at providing g all citizens with equality. Some enslaved other human beings, whom they certainly didn’t treat as though they were equal. In fact, they deprived them of liberty and the ability to make the choices that would give them a happy life, and sometimes even deprived them of their lives. Slavery was rampant in the European colonies, so that example of inequality didn’t come to their minds.
Only white male landowners were allowed to vote. There were many laws that perpetuated the inequality that people of that time were used to. New laws continued to support inequality.
The authors of the Declaration even wrote that all “men” were equal, not feeling any need to mention women. In those days, people regularly said “men” when they meant “human beings.”
The founding fathers were thinking about the kind of social inequality they had known back in England. There, different classes of people had different rights. A commoner was never considered the equal of an aristocrat. They wanted a country where being a duke did not mean you were better than someone who was an earl. Dukes, earls, barons, members of Congress, and ordinary men in the street, they would all be equal. There would be no kings, and the president of the new country would be the equal of all the other citizens. Even today, an immigrant who holds a title from another country must give that title up to become an American citizen.
How are we doing now?
We’re doing a lot better. Slavery has been abolished. Women can vote. It is illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of race. Equality is still a core principle of the United States, but it no longer focuses on getting rid of aristocrats.
We’re also still not perfect on the question of equality. Congress is allowed to treat territories unequally, though the states must all be treated equally. U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico cannot vote in presidential elections, nor for senators. There is only one representative in Congress, though as a state Puerto Rico would have about four, and that representative cannot vote on laws — including laws that directly affect Puerto Rico. What’s more, Puerto Rico does not have the full protection of the U.S. Constitution.
The U.S. is still working to form a more perfect union, and the obvious inequality of Puerto Rico is an important example of where we as a nation still fall short.
How can we improve?
Making Puerto Rico equal to the 50 states would be a big step. How can this be done? We have seen that it can’t be done by passing a few laws that ask for equality under this existing law or that. Not only are there too many inequities to repair by that method, but a future Congress can always change those laws.
The only way to provide equality for Puerto Rico is to admit Puerto Rico as a state. In the 21st century, maintaining a colonial relationship with territories is an embarrassment for the United States, just as holding enslaved people as possessions was an embarrassment for the founding fathers.
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States, let’s turn again to the core foundational values of our nation and make Puerto Rico equal to the states. It’s a fitting way to celebrate our national birthday!
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