He had a negative view about Native Americans, until the time when they assisted the puritans. Then he still refused to speak kindly of them, but he did not speak badly of them anymore. He used to clearly state his opinion of Native Americans in negative ways. Basically, racists. But when they assisted the puritans, i.e. being translators, he started opening up to them and accepting them.
The major assumption in the first sentence in the Declaration of Independence was the "all men were created equal".
This obviously wasn't the case because slavery was still in full swing; therefore, what was meant by it is that all WHITE men were created equal.
epigram<span>a : pithy saying or remark expressing an idea in a clever and amusing way</span>
