But you’re reading of this is bizarre and off kilter.
If you mean it's contrary to the crowd, then yes, you are correct. I don't make up my mind about what to believe by following along with other people. I read and think on my own, and arrive at conclusions that make sense to me.
Lincoln has made "all men are created equal" the only five words that people know from the Declaration of Independence, and they are taken quite out of context.
The document is about freedom for the states from England. It is not at all about slaves or slavery.
Making people think it is about slaves or slavery is a deliberate misdirection. The Declaration of Independence is only about the right to leave a government that no longer serves the people's interest.
The perception of it has been warped to be about slavery, and it had nothing to do with slavery.
It supported what the Southern states did, but Lincoln portrayed it as supporting what he did. This is a deliberate misdirection.
It's the sort of thing a con man does.
And if you think i'm the only one who saw it this way, H.L. Mencken wrote a few words on the subject about a century ago.
"Am I the first American to note the fundamental nonsensicality of the Gettysburg address?"