The Declaration of Independence was penned by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, with the editorial input of John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. It’s one of the most recognized and most quoted documents in human history, but is it ever truly understood? Politicians today quote the declaration when promoting progressive causes, citing the “all men are created equal” line, but they’re borrowing from Lincoln, not Jefferson. Abraham Lincoln’s messaging on the subject became the prevailing wisdom of the document and was carried into the 20th century by conservative thinkers such as Harry Jaffa and Leo Strauss, and civil rights advocates like Martin Luther King, Jr. But what did Jefferson actually mean when he wrote it?