If Abraham Lincoln were alive today and looking out from a speaker’s stand over our divided nation, he would probably once again deliver his Gettysburg speech. All he would need to change is the number of years:
“Twelve score and five years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
During a time when all over the world kings reigned with absolute power, our founders brought forth a nation based on the vision which Jefferson so perfectly expressed: “that all men are created equal.” And because we were all created equal, we are all entitled to the same rights – amongst which are the rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Jefferson knew that no human institution could ever perfectly embody these ideals. But he declared that ours would be the nation that was always striving to achieve that vision.
