All Men Are Created Equal

How well do you understand our Constitution? Hillsdale College President Larry P. Arnn explains how America’s Founders understood the words, “All men are created equal.”

Transcript:

Constitution Minute #1: How Well Do You Understand Our Constitution?

STUDENT: Hello, I’m Kelsey, a student at Hillsdale College. Here is Doctor Larry Arnn on how America’s founder’s understood the words all men are created equal.

DR. ARNN: America’s founders knew, obviously, that human beings are not equal in terms of strength or beauty, or in terms of intelligence, industry or talents. They understood that because of such differences, differences in talents and things like that, some people would be wealthier than others. But human beings are equal, the founders believed, in their possession of natural rights, such as the rights to life, liberty and property. Today many American’s reject this equality of rights in order to pursue equality of condition through redistribution, or spreading the wealth around to use a famous formulation. This is destructive of liberty as the founders understood it.

STUDENT: This Constitution Minute was brought to you by Hillsdale College. To join the national conversation on the Constitution, go to ConstitutionMinute.org.