The American Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson and published on July 4, 1776, represents the contradiction that lies at the heart of American society: the Declaration espouses egalitarian principles, but, Kendi argues, the United States was defined by racist ideas from the very beginning.
The Declaration also represents the illogic of racism. In the Revolutionary era, the Declaration allowed white American men to declare themselves free from the metaphorical slavery of British colonial rule, all while continuing to actually enslave African people. In Stamped from the Beginning, the Declaration is featured most heavily in the section on Jefferson, who was the Declaration’s primary author. In this section, Kendi emphasizes that Jefferson’s worldview was always defined by paradox; he straddled both assimilationist and segregationist as well as pro-slavery and anti-slavery positions. These unresolved contradictions are represented in the Declaration itself: it asserts that all men are born free and equal, but it was written by an enslaver in a country where slavery was both legal and booming.
From one perspective, this hypocrisy might suggest that the Declaration is a worthless document—and an insult to the enslaved Black people whom it implied do not count as human. But at the same time, Kendi notes that across American history, Black people utilized the Declaration in order to fight against racism and demand equal treatment. For example, when Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale wrote the Black Panther Party’s 10-Point Platform in 1966, they quoted from the Declaration. In this sense, Kendi argues that while the Declaration may be denounced as a document so illogical and hypocritical that it is practically meaningless, it is also possible to see antiracist potential within it. Indeed, viewing the Declaration in the complex historical context in which it was written allows for the best understanding of the document’s limits and failures as well as its potential for liberation.
Declaration of Independence Quotes in Stamped from the Beginning
As a holder of nearly two hundred people with no known plans to free them, Thomas Jefferson authored the heralded American philosophy of freedom. What did it mean for Jefferson to call “liberty” an “inalienable right” when he enslaved people? It is hard to figure out what Native Americans, enslaved Africans, and indentured White servants meant when they demanded liberty in 1776. But what about Jefferson and other slaveholders like him, whose wealth and power were dependent upon their land and their slaves?
Declaration of Independence Symbol Timeline in Stamped from the Beginning
