--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our Declaration of Independence was held…" description: "\"Our Declaration of Independence was held sacred by all and thought to include all; but now, to aid in making the bondage of the Negro universal and ete..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82b/abraham-lincoln-88_eternal_our-declaration-of-independence-was-held_856115.png" --- # Our Declaration of Independence was held sacred by all and… ![“Our Declaration of Independence was held sacred by all and thought to include all; but now, to aid in making the bondage of the Negro universal and eternal, it is assailed, sneered at, construed, hawked at, and torn, till, if its framers could rise from their graves, they could not at all…” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82b/abraham-lincoln-88_eternal_our-declaration-of-independence-was-held_856115.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82b/abraham-lincoln-88_eternal_our-declaration-of-independence-was-held_856115.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82b/abraham-lincoln-88_eternal_our-declaration-of-independence-was-held_856115.png) > “Our Declaration of Independence was held sacred by all and thought to include all; but now, to aid in making the bondage of the Negro universal and eternal, it is assailed, sneered at, construed, hawked at, and torn, till, if its framers could rise from their graves, they could not at all recognize it.” [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Lincoln laments that the ideals of liberty are being corrupted, turning the promise of freedom into a tool of oppression for Black people. **In simple terms:** The promise of freedom is being twisted to oppress. Key Takeaway Defend the original meaning of liberty. Themes freedom justice corruption race history Mood somber reflective urgent Type historical political inspirational When to use this quote - civil rights activism - education reform - political debate - community organizing Key Concepts civil rights political rhetoric historical analysis Questions to Reflect On - How can societies protect foundational ideals from distortion? - What responsibilities do we have to reinterpret historic promises? A Different Perspective The quote reflects a 19th‑century perspective; modern contexts differ. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eternal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Independence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/independence/) ## Related quotes > [In those days, our Declaration of Independence was held sacred by all, and thought to include all; but now, to aid in the making…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/in-those-days-our-declaration-of-independence-was-held-sacred-by-all/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“In America, too, the reality behind the words of the Declaration of Independence (issued in the same year as Adam Smith’s capitalist manifesto, The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/in-america-too-the-reality-behind-the-words-of-the-declaration-of/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [The bondage of the Negro brought captive from Africa is one of the greatest dramas in history, and the writer who merely sees in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-bondage-of-the-negro-brought-captive-from-africa-is-one-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Mother love is invariably held sacred, as it should be, but why has father love never had its due?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-osgood-wright/mother-love-is-invariably-held-sacred-as-it-should-be-but-why-has/) [Mabel Osgood Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mabel-osgood-wright/) > [“Declan Kiberd: Irish writers were an early warning system about abuse Artists played a vital role in the State's formation and since independence have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/declan-kiberd/declan-kiberd-irish-writers-were-an-early-warning-system-about-abuse/) Declan Kiberd > [Whatever has made, or does make, or may make music, should be held sacred as the golden bridle-bit of the Shah of Persia's horse,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/whatever-has-made-or-does-make-or-may-make-music-should-be-held/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [I've always loved music and held it as a sacred thing that I can't touch, as I don't really want to deconstruct it or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-koblin/i-ve-always-loved-music-and-held-it-as-a-sacred-thing-that-i-can-t/) [Aaron Koblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-koblin/) > [Conservatives understand that the power that binds our republic together is fierce independence held high on the shoulders of compassion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-west/conservatives-understand-that-the-power-that-binds-our-republic/) [Allen West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-west/) > [“I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. --February 22, 1861”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-have-never-had-a-feeling-politically-that-did-not-spring-from-the-2/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Wise statesmen ... established these great self-evident truths, that when in the distant future some man, some faction, some interest, should set up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/wise-statesmen-established-these-great-self-evident-truths-that-when/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-have-never-had-a-feeling-politically-that-did-not-spring-from-the/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I should like to know if, taking this old Declaration of Independence, which declares that all men are equal upon principle, you begin making…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-should-like-to-know-if-taking-this-old-declaration-of-independence/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [As the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and Laws, let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/as-the-patriots-of-seventy-six-did-to-the-support-of-the-declaration/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [ I think the authors of that notable instrument \[the Declaration of Independence\] intended to include all men. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-think-the-authors-of-that-notable-instrument-the-declaration-of/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Let us re-adopt the Declaration of Independence, and with it, the practices, and policy, which harmonize with it. Let north and south - let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/let-us-re-adopt-the-declaration-of-independence-and-with-it-the/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) ## More by Abraham Lincoln > [Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/elections-belong-to-the-people-it-s-their-decision-if-they-decide-to/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/all-that-i-am-or-ever-hope-to-be-i-owe-to-my-angel-mother/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/while-the-people-retain-their-virtue-and-vigilance-no-administration/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-could-not-have-slept-tonight-if-i-had-left-that-helpless-little/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers of a common country, and should dwell together in bonds of fraternal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/let-us-at-all-times-remember-that-all-american-citizens-are-brothers/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [If you wish to be a lawyer, attach no consequence to the place you are in, or the person you are with; but get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/if-you-wish-to-be-a-lawyer-attach-no-consequence-to-the-place-you-are/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [As we keep or break the Sabbath Day we nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope by which man rises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/as-we-keep-or-break-the-sabbath-day-we-nobly-save-or-meanly-lose-the/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Tell the truth and you won't have so much to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/tell-the-truth-and-you-won-t-have-so-much-to-remember/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [With high hope for the future, no prediction is ventured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/with-high-hope-for-the-future-no-prediction-is-ventured/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [We know, Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers amongst us. How little they know, whereof they speak! There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-know-southern-men-declare-that-their-slaves-are-better-off-than/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I am glad to see that a system of labor prevails under which laborers can strike when they want to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-am-glad-to-see-that-a-system-of-labor-prevails-under-which-laborers/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-don-t-like-that-man-i-must-get-to-know-him-better/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and to the young, it comes with bitterest agony because it takes them unawares.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/in-this-sad-world-of-ours-sorrow-comes-to-all-and-to-the-young-it/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The man does not live who is more devoted to peace than I am. None who would do more to preserve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/the-man-does-not-live-who-is-more-devoted-to-peace-than-i-am-none-who/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) [Explore all 1,437 Abraham Lincoln quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) ## More Eternal quotes > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [“Please not yet. Those are the three eternal words. Please not yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/please-not-yet-those-are-the-three-eternal-words-please-not-yet/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [I remain an eternal optimist about love. I believe in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-lopez/i-remain-an-eternal-optimist-about-love-i-believe-in-love/) [Jennifer Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-lopez/) > [The writings of latter-day prophets clearly teach that the sorrows and sufferings endured by Adam and Eve upon their leaving the Garden of Eden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-k-judd/the-writings-of-latter-day-prophets-clearly-teach-that-the-sorrows/) Daniel K Judd > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/) [Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/) > [The time has come for us to understand that the Eternal Feminine is the greatest power in this Universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samael-aun-weor/the-time-has-come-for-us-to-understand-that-the-eternal-feminine-is/) [Samael Aun Weor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samael-aun-weor/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [We are eternal. All this pain is an illusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-james-keenan/we-are-eternal-all-this-pain-is-an-illusion/) [Maynard James Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-james-keenan/) > [In some respects I will never die. Because art is immortal. What we leave behind and what we create - the energy that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madonna-ciccone/in-some-respects-i-will-never-die-because-art-is-immortal-what-we/) [Madonna Ciccone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madonna-ciccone/) > [The only way to have eternal love is to never let your heart forget what it’s like to live without it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/the-only-way-to-have-eternal-love-is-to-never-let-your-heart-forget/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [My God, whose son, as on this night, took on Him the form of man, and for man vouchsafed to suffer and bleed, controls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/my-god-whose-son-as-on-this-night-took-on-him-the-form-of-man-and-for/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [In the course of our eternal existence, we spend infinitely more time in the spirit world on the other side than we spend in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-browne/in-the-course-of-our-eternal-existence-we-spend-infinitely-more-time/) [Sylvia Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-browne/) > [The propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-propitious-smiles-of-heaven-can-never-be-expected-on-a-nation/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [If our faith in God is not the veriest sham, it demands, and will produce, the abandonment sometimes, the subordination always, of external helps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-maclaren/if-our-faith-in-god-is-not-the-veriest-sham-it-demands-and-will/) [Alexander MacLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-maclaren/) [Browse all 3,280 Eternal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Our Declaration of Independence was held sacred by all and thought to include all; but now, to aid in making the bondage of the Negro universal and eternal, it is assailed, sneered at, construed, hawked at, and torn, till, if its framers could rise from their graves, they could not at all recognize it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Abraham Lincoln" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/our-declaration-of-independence-was-held-sacred-by-all-and-thought-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eternal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/our-declaration-of-independence-was-held-sacred-by-all-and-thought-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82b/abraham-lincoln-88_eternal_our-declaration-of-independence-was-held_856115.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82b/abraham-lincoln-88_eternal_our-declaration-of-independence-was-held_856115.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82b/abraham-lincoln-88_eternal_our-declaration-of-independence-was-held_856115.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our Declaration of Independence was held sacred by all and thought to include all; but now, to aid in making…” — Abraham Lincoln", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Abraham Lincoln", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Our Declaration of Independence was held...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/our-declaration-of-independence-was-held-sacred-by-all-and-thought-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/our-declaration-of-independence-was-held-sacred-by-all-and-thought-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```