Answer:
In 1776 not everyone was treated equally and therefore does not live up to this ideal, but nowadays people are treated equally, and the United States lives up to this ideal.
Step-by-step explanation:
In 1776 they did not mean individual equality, rather, what the Continental Congress declared on July 4, 1776, was that American colonists, as a people, had the same rights to self-government as other nations.
Nowadays people treat everyone equally and the people who don't are looked down upon