10 Things You Need to Know About the Declaration of Independence — and Why They Still Matter

By Hasan Davis, J.D. – The Hope Dealer

What if the most powerful weapon against oppression was a sentence? Two hundred and forty-nine years ago, a document was signed, the spark that lit the fuse for American Revolution. But it also did something bigger. It laid the groundwork for a vision of justice and freedom that even its authors couldn’t live up to. And that’s what makes it so important today.

Whether you consider yourself ultra-progressive, MAGA conservative, or somewhere in between, this is for you. Because if you believe in dignity, liberty, and opportunity, you’re already part of the promise Jefferson drafted. Here are ten things you need to know.

1. “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” Was a Revolutionary Rewrite

Jefferson could have followed John Locke’s classic formula: “life, liberty, and property.” Instead, he made a deliberate choice to swap out “property” for “the pursuit of happiness.” Why? Because “property” had been used to justify slavery. In that system, people were property.

Jefferson’s revision undermined that foundation. By naming happiness—not possession—as an inalienable right, he left a crack in the wall that upheld human bondage. That crack became a doorway for abolitionists and civil rights leaders to walk through.

👉🏽 This wasn’t a mistake. It was a pivot toward justice.

2. The Declaration's Power Is in Its Contradictions

Jefferson owned over 600 enslaved people. He called slavery a “hideous blot” while continuing to profit from it. He condemned the system publicly in early drafts—but let it go silent in the final version.

It’s tempting to throw the whole thing out because of that. But Jefferson’s contradictions are also what make the document usable. He knew the words outpaced the world around him. And that tension—between what is and what should be—became fuel for every generation that followed.

👉🏽 The contradiction is the point. It gives us something to correct.

3. “All Men Are Created Equal” Was Meant to Be Inclusive

Unlike earlier drafts by George Mason that limited rights to those “in civil society,” Jefferson’s version was open-ended. There was no clause excluding women, Indigenous people, or enslaved Africans—just the assertion that all are created equal.

He even capitalized the word “MEN” in his draft when condemning slavery, emphasizing the full humanity of enslaved people.

👉🏽 The door was cracked open on purpose. Our job is to walk through it—and hold it open for others.

4. Jefferson’s “Loophole” Set the Stage for Abolition

By removing property from the founding rights and emphasizing happiness—linked to dignity, moral growth, and human flourishing—Jefferson didn’t just describe freedom. He created the intellectual trap that would later help kill slavery.

Abraham Lincoln saw it. So did Frederick Douglass. Both used Jefferson’s own words to argue that slavery was not only immoral—it was un-American.

👉🏽 The same words used to justify revolution against kings were used to dismantle chains.

5. The “Pursuit of Happiness” Is About Dignity, Not Comfort

This wasn’t about chasing wealth or personal pleasure. Jefferson, like many Enlightenment thinkers, saw happiness as moral fulfillment—a life of meaning, purpose, and human growth. A nation built on that idea had to eventually confront systems that degraded people.

👉🏽 Happiness isn’t selfish. It’s sacred. And everybody deserves a shot at it.

6. The Founders Planted Seeds They Couldn’t Grow

Many of the signers were complicit in oppression. Yet the language they chose—the ideals they inked—were bigger than their own behavior. They drafted a map that others could follow, even if they never reached the destination themselves.

That map has been used by suffragists, civil rights leaders, LGBTQ+ activists, veterans, poor families, and anyone demanding to be seen and treated as fully human.

👉🏽 If the tree of liberty still stands, it’s because others kept watering the roots.

7. The Declaration Challenges Every Generation

Jefferson didn’t just want to win a war. He wanted to define what kind of country we could be. That’s why Lincoln called the Declaration “a rebuke and a stumbling block to tyranny and oppression.” It set the standard, even if we failed to meet it.

It is not a relic. It’s a ruler. A mirror. A mission statement.

👉🏽 It doesn’t let us off the hook. It calls us higher.

8. This Document Was Supposed to Make You Uncomfortable

Jefferson’s draft included a scathing indictment of slavery. It was deleted—not because it was false—but because too many delegates, including Jefferson, were economically invested in keeping people enslaved.

That discomfort never went away. In fact, it’s the reason the Declaration still matters. It demands that we wrestle with the gap between our ideals and our reality. Our aspirations and our failings.

👉🏽 The discomfort is a feature—not a flaw. It's the engine of progress.

9. You Don’t Have to Agree on Everything to Agree on This

Do you believe every person should have the chance to live, be free, and pursue their own purpose without fear or domination? More importantly do you think that you should? Then you believe in the heart of the Declaration.

Whether you’re marching in protest, serving your country or flying a flag on your porch, the call is the same: Be true to these truths.

👉🏽 We may argue about policy. But we can agree on principle.

10. The Declaration Was a Beginning—Not a Finish Line

When Frederick Douglass spoke in 1852, he said the Declaration’s values were “saving principles.” Not because they were perfect—but because they could evolve. Grow. Expand.

Every movement for freedom and justice in America is a chapter in the unfinished story the Declaration began.

👉🏽 We’re not here to worship the past. We’re here to finish what it started.

So Where Do We Go From Here?

We go forward by returning to what was true from the beginning: that every human being has worth. That freedom is not domination, but dignity. That happiness is not about hoarding but becoming.

The words that launched a revolution still belong to all of us. Whether you're working in a classroom, walking a picket line, sitting in church, raising kids, or running for office—you are part of the pursuit.

Let’s stop arguing over who owns the past and start living into the promise of our shared future.

Let’s make “We hold these truths to be self-evident” the truth, for everyone, finally.