Primary Sources
The Idea
Where the words “created equal” come from, in the documents that carried them forward.
The passages below are public domain primary sources, reproduced as written. Read together, they trace a single promise across two centuries.
Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
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.
The promise was stated in 1776. Within a few years, the states were saying it too, in their own words: “born free and equal.”
Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, 1780, Article I
All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness.
At Seneca Falls in 1848, the circle widened. The convention took up the words of 1776 and wrote women into them.
Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca Falls, July 1848
We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Speaking in Springfield in 1857, Abraham Lincoln, an Illinoisan, described the words as a standard to be “constantly labored for.”
Abraham Lincoln, Speech on the Dred Scott Decision, Springfield, Illinois, June 26, 1857
They meant to set up a standard maxim for free society, which should be familiar to all, and revered by all; constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and even though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated, and thereby constantly spreading and deepening its influence, and augmenting the happiness and value of life to all people of all colors everywhere.
In 1868, the circle widened again. The Fourteenth Amendment wrote equal protection of the laws into the Constitution itself.
Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1, 1868
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Illinois carries the promise in its own constitution, in the first section of its first article.
Illinois Constitution of 1970, Article I, Section 1
All men are by nature free and independent and have certain inherent and inalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights and the protection of property, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Belonging: Why a Bench, and Why Illinois
Illinois, the Land of Lincoln, is a fitting place to cast these words. A bench is where neighbors sit side by side; the words sit between them. The promise belongs to everyone, and everyone belongs in “created equal.”
Further Reading
Akhil Reed Amar, The Words That Made Us: America’s Constitutional Conversation, 1760–1840 (Basic Books, 2021) and Born Equal: Remaking America’s Constitution, 1840–1920 (Basic Books, 2025).