Capital Review

Equality of all citizens is a uniquely American concept.

Historian G.K. Chesterton said, “America is the only nation in the world that was founded on a creed.” That creed comes from the Declaration of Independence:

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.

This declaration came at a point when slavery was nearly universal. Native Americans made slaves of conquered tribes and of blacks. In Africa, blacks and Muslims sold slaves t...