First by the medieval priest John Ball who at the outbreak of the 1381 Peasants Revolt in his famous sermon posited the question "When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman?" and proclaimed "From the beginning all men by nature were created alike"
In his 1690 work Second Treatise of Government the philosopher John Locke argues that in the "state of nature" that existed before the formation of governments all men were created equal.
And finally in 1776 when the great Declaration of Independence was asked by Franklin, Jefferson and others. As a proof read Jefferson suggested some minor suggestions to Franklin alongwith the phrase 'all men are created equal.' The second para of the Declaration of Independence of USA reads:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.-- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the 6 of the governed."
The first use of this Phrase: