The Myth of Equality and the Quasi‑Constitutional Status of the Declaration of Independence

Abstract

Equality seems to be an inseparable element of the American Creed and political vocabulary. As Abraham Lincoln explained in his Gettysburg Address it is a principle upon which the American nation was founded – through its founding document, the Declaration of Independence – and, at the same time, an ideal the realization of which the American nation is “dedicated” to. The main thesis of the paper is that both the unquestionable place of equality in the American Creed and the quasi‑constitutional status of the Declaration of Independence (treated as a preamble to the Constitution) are both myths. On the basis of the works of Willmoore Kendall and Melvin Bradford I will present the argumentation suggesting that Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, in fact, marks a radical redefinition of the “American experiment” which, with time, became an official and binding interpretation of the founding documents. Many decades later Lincoln’s interpretation became an axiological and ideological basis for politicians and social activists and it still influences Americans’ understanding of their political tradition.