The Declaration of Sentiments: Can One Word Really Mean So Much?

My father always used to say, "Choose your words wisely." I never really knew what that meant back then so I would get let it go in one ear and out the other. I didn't get the difference between saying "hi" or "hello" or between writing the word "all" instead of "most." I just didn't get how a single word could change the point I was talking or writing about. All of this changed when I read the Declaration of Independence and The Declaration of Sentiments.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal , that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the  pursuit of Happiness" (The Declaration of Independence).

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" (The Declaration of Sentiments).



The former of the two quotes above is undoubtedly one of the most famous quotes from the Declaration of Independence. Even if it may be confusing for some to understand, it basically just summarizes the entire document saying that we are given three God-given rights: Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The latter of the two quotes is from the Declaration of Sentiments but is extremely similar to the one in the Declaration of Independence except for one phrase: "men AND women." The lack of the word "women" in the Declaration of Independence is what distinguishes these two monumental documents from each other. It is that one word that changes the fundamental purpose from explaining how the lack of the "unalienable Rights" led the colonies to declare independence to the purpose of demanding equal rights for women. It is the omission of this one word in the Declaration of Independence that brought a decisive national dispute upon the country. And it is this word that will continue to fuel the arguments between the genders until a solution is finally reached.

To sum up everything I have said, the meaning of a work of literature is like taking the integral of it: it is the sum of all the words and meanings of those words under a given work.