“...the primary message of the Declaration of Independence?
It is that people have a right to independence.”
Agreed.
“People have turned it into a statement on slavery...”
Are slaves people? Do slaves have a right to independence.
How does “right to be independent” not include, or not be the the same as, the right not to be a slave?
Of course they do, but is the Declaration of Independence a message about slaves? No it is not. It had absolutely no intention of speaking about slavery, but everyone has twisted it into a discussion about slavery.
The intended meaning of "all men are created equal" spoke to the class distinctions in the British aristocracy where lords and peasants had differing rights, and it had no intention to speak on the issue of slavery though people have warped it into meaning that.
Turning it into a commentary on slavery is dishonest for that was not the intended understanding of the men who signed it nor the intended meaning of the country who sent it to King George III.