The Issue of Equality during the Revolutionary America, 1760s-1780s

美國建國革命期間之平等觀念，1760年代至1780年代

10.30092/JHCLANCHU.200709.0012

黃小平(Hsiao-Ping Huang)

自由之子 ； 民團 ； 奴隸制度 ； 獨立宣言 ； 共和制 ； 湯姆斯•傑佛遜 ； 州憲法 ； 權利法案 ； 婦女投票權 ； 黑人投票權 ； Son of Liberty militiamen slavery ； Declaration of Independence republicanism Thomas Jefferson State Constitutions declarations of rights woman suffrage black disfranchisement

興大人文學報

39期（2007 / 09 / 01）

367 - 400

英文

平等議題深受美國十八世紀政治人物重視, 南卡羅來納州和維吉尼亞州州憲制定日期均早於主張天賦人權的美國「獨立宣言」，但社會現象和政治理念並不同調，革命者對平等理念的解讀不盡相同，不平等普遍存在於社會各層面。在十三州殖民地抗議英國國會獨斷徵稅所引發的暴力事件中，有許多是來自於殖民地中無投票權的貧窮下層人民對富有特權階級的反抗。從遍及都市地區到殖民地鄉間的民間動亂，顯示在獨立革命前後廿多年間嚴重的社會對立。 在獨立革命前，無財產婦女被視為無獨立意志，無投票權；黑人中的奴隸是白人主人的財產，而已在美國生活了數代的北方自由黑人、印地安人和猶太人等，亦被排除在政治與社會平等外。但是政治精英們對於爭取從英國脫離奴役狀態與在十三州殖民地存在的奴隸制度之間的矛盾現象，卻選擇刻意忽略，即使主張廢奴的湯姆斯•傑佛遜其動機亦是源於對族裔戰爭的恐懼。十三州的新州憲大部分均附有權利法案，賦與大部分白人男子，特別是有財產的男子投票權，改善了選民代表權，但保留了政治上的不平等。現代意義的民主政治並不存在於革命期間的美國。

The issue of equality had a place in American politics long before the Declaration of Independence. Although the idea of equality placed a central role in the actions of those who supported Independence, it did not necessarily mean the same thing or hold the same implications in the minds of Revolutionaries. As Thomas Jefferson well knew, proclaiming, ”all men are created equal” was an effective argument against rule by a monarch; but it could also be a powerful stimulus for change in a society where the majority was not free and equal. The political ideas of society pointed one way, the cultural assumptions the other. Conflicts for social equality took many forms in the revolutionary period. Many ordinary people would not accept conditions that presented to them by those with more power, status, or wealth. From the 1760s through 1770s disturbances broke out not only in urban areas but the countryside threatened social stability. By 1776, Americans were well along the way to accept the doctrine of natural rights and the principle that just government rested on the consent of the governed, but neither was interpreted as giving political rights to women, blacks, American Indians and persons with different religious convictions. Nearly all of the new state constitutions contained a declaration of rights that were outgrowth of colonial experience. Although some improvements were made in representation under the Revolutionary constitutions, they retained features of political inequality. Consequently, whatever political democracy did exist was a democracy of white, male property owners.

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