The US “Declaration of Independence”, 1776, states that “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”are unalienable rights given to all humans by their Creator. In incorporating the phrase “pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson (1743 -1826), a Founding Father and the 3rd president of the US, was inspired by the English Enlightenment thinker and philosopher John Locke (1632 – 1704).
The pursuit of happiness requires one to be free from coercion by others, and the material means to follow one’s goals. That implies right to property.
George Sutherland (1862 – 1942), US Supreme Court Justice, wrote:
“It is not the right of property which is protected, but the right to property. Property, per se, has no rights; but the individual—the man—has three great rights, equally sacred from arbitrary interference: the right to his life, the right to his liberty, the right to his property. . . . The three rights are so bound together as to be essentially one right. To give a man his life but deny him his liberty, is to take from him all that makes his life worth living. To give him his liberty but take from him the property which is the fruit and badge of his liberty, is to still leave him a slave.”
To have no right to property is a mark of a slave. I have to note that Indians have no fundamental right to property. Are Indians really free or just believe that they are free?
Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 
Why do you think Indians have no fundamental right TO property?
I have a house. Some money in bank. Some units in Mutual fund. As of today, I do not think someone will capture those without my consent.
Are you referring to the taxation policy of India?
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Indians don’t have a fundamental right to property. The right to own property is granted by the constitution. It’s only a constitutional right. That means, the government of the day can decide at will to take people’s property. What the constitutions giveth, the constitution can taketh away.
A fundamental right is a right that cannot be altered by legislation. It is a human right that is inherent in the very state of being a human.
You enjoy your home and your savings at the mercy and pleasure of the despotic government. I’m not making this up.
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No different than eminent domain in the US of A then…..
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Is it not ironic for Jefferson to wax eloquently on liberty and linking it to right to property ( though I don’t disagree) when building a nation , first by systematic genocide of natives and then kidnapping millions across the continent to toil in slavery for generations
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Rohit, you raise an important issue.
I agree that there is a glaring contradiction between the expressed beliefs of some people and their actions. Jefferson was a slaveholder and even had several children with one of his slaves. He remained a slaveholder until his death in 1826. He made some statements opposing slavery in principle and supported some gradual emancipation proposals, but he never freed the vast majority of his slaves, even in his will.
Here are some details about those who signed the Declaration of Independence, and the Founding Fathers regarding slave holding.At the time of the American Revolution, slavery was legal in all 13 colonies, and many of the Founding Fathers were indeed slaveholders.
Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, approximately 41 were slaveholders at some point in their lives. Of the more prominent Founding Fathers:
– George Washington owned slaves but freed them in his will
– Thomas Jefferson, as mentioned, owned hundreds of slaves
– James Madison owned slaves throughout his life
– Patrick Henry, despite saying “Give me liberty or give me death,” owned slaves
– Benjamin Franklin owned slaves early in his life but later became an abolitionist
Notable non-slaveholding Founders included:
– John Adams
– Samuel Adams
– Thomas Paine
– Alexander Hamilton (though his wife’s family owned slaves)
– John Jay (who advocated for abolition in New York)
This divide often fell along regional lines – most northern Founders either never owned slaves or had freed them by the time of the Revolution, while southern Founders typically owned slaves. However, even among slaveholders, some like Washington and Franklin came to oppose the institution later in life, while others like Jefferson and Madison, despite expressing some moral qualms, continued the practice throughout their lives.
About the systematic kidnapping, forced labor and genocide of Native Americans by the European colonists at first and later by the Americans — that is a deplorable fact. But that was overshadowed by African slavery.
It must be noted at this point that the Native Americans were not a monolithic entity. They had inter-tribal conflicts and did what people usually do in violent conflicts. In this business of war and enslavement, no group comes out blameless. Native American tribes enslaved or killed other tribes. Africans kidnapped other Africans and sold them to European slave traders. Even in the US, many Africans owned African slaves. We should also note that only a small minority of Americans owned slaves. Only the rich could buy slaves, and there weren’t that many rich people.
C’est la vie.
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Thank you sir for the detailed explanation
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