ABSTRACT
Since the present administration thinks that we are in charge of the world, it might be interesting to see how that state of mind came about. In the beginning, a few planters and merchants signed on to a document that proclaimed all men to be equal, with the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This document has ever since caused no end of confusion because it excluded Indians, blacks, women, and foreigners, but these people didn’t know it. They believed the document, but the planters and merchants didn’t. Most of them, anyway. Thomas Jefferson was so confused about its meaning that he allowed some of his children to be free and kept others in slavery. He bought the Louisiana Territory from France, doubling the size of the United States, without even consulting the Indians who lived there. They didn’t count among those who had been created equal.
