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Even though he produced eloquent denunciations of slavery,
盡管他口若懸河地對奴隸制進行了譴責，
and he saw himself as a progressive on the question,
盡管他自認為在這個問題上自己是進步人士，
he has been faulted for not working as hard for the freedom of African Americans as he did for that of white colonists.
他還是受到了指責，理由是他沒有像為白人殖民者那樣努力地為非裔美國人的自由奔波。
He also questioned the equal intellectual capacity of black people,
他還對黑人與白人智力平等這一理念提出了質疑，
and he never really contemplated the equality of women on terms satisfactory to us today.
也從未真正考慮過達到令當今時代的我們感到滿意的水平的女性平等。
Even acknowledging all of that,
盡管存在上述種種不足，
we cannot ignore the transformative and bold words Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence:
我們還是不能對杰斐遜在《獨立宣言》中寫下的那句大膽的變革之語視而不見：
that it is “self-evident” that “all men are created equal.”
“不言而喻”，“人人生而平等”。
Many people, enslaved and free, black and white, believed those words;
無論是奴隸之身還是自由之身，無論是黑人還是白人，他們中間都有很多人對這句話深信不疑；
believed they expressed their long-held intuitions and condemned the wrongness of the oppression they suffered.
他們認為，這些字眼道出了他們一直以來的直覺，是對他們遭受的錯誤的壓迫的聲討。
They were moved to act.
因為感動，他們不再沉默。
In the American Revolution, enslaved African Americans (and some free black people)
美國獨立戰爭爆發后，被奴役的非裔美國人(還有一些自由的黑人)
joined the fighting on both sides, to vindicate their equal humanity.
紛紛加入南方和北方兩大陣營的戰斗，試圖維護他們的平等人權。
When they had the chance, they filed freedom suits
機會一來臨，他們便為自由提起了訴訟，
arguing that the words proclaiming the equality of mankind made their enslavement illegal and unjust.
他們聲稱，宣揚人類平等的言論推翻了他們的奴隸身份的合法性和公正性。
Many African-American agitators—from Frederick Douglass to Martin Luther King Jr.—
許多鼓動民眾反抗的非裔活動家——從弗雷德里克·道格拉斯到馬丁·路德·金——
have pointed to the Declaration as a promise of equal citizenship.
都將這一宣言奉為了公民身份平等的承諾書。
Indeed, many groups—women, immigrants, members of the LGBTQ community—
事實上，許多群體——女性、移民、LGBTQ人群——
have looked to the document to justify their claims to an equal place in American society.
也將這一文件奉為自己應該在美國社會中爭取平等地位的正當理由。
With his stubborn support for the French Revolution, his calls to separate church and state,
由于他堅定支持法國大革命，呼吁政教分離，
and his desire to expand the voting franchise among white men,
還希望擴大白人男性的投票權，
Jefferson gained a reputation as a dangerous radical who would turn society over to a mob.
杰斐遜還多了個危險的，會將大家變成暴民的激進分子的外號。
His claims of equality frightened many in America.
他提出的有關平等的主張嚇壞了許多美國人。
In the months before he died in 1826,
1826年去世前的幾個月，
Jefferson reaffirmed the ideas expressed in the Declaration,
杰斐遜重申了宣言中的思想，
whose meaning had long transcended its original purpose—
而這一宣言的意義早已超越了其原始初衷——
announcing the break with Britain and the colonies’ determination to form a new nation.
宣布與母國英國決裂，宣布殖民地決意組建新的國家。
In a letter to Roger Weightman,
在寫給羅杰·韋特曼的信中，
declining an invitation to participate in a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence because he was ill,
杰斐遜以生病為由拒絕了參加獨立宣言50周年慶?；顒拥难?，
Jefferson insisted that “all eyes are open, or opening, to the rights of man.”
杰斐遜堅稱，“面對人權問題，所有人的眼睛都是睜開著或正在睜開的?！?/p>
He also said he believed that the universal language of the Declaration would one day apply “to the world.”
他還說，他相信，有朝一日，“宣言”里的“通用語言”之花終將開遍“全世界”。
Equality was the wave of the future.
因為平等是未來大勢所趨。
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