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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
King John takes money from his people and accumulates almost four times the ordinary royal revenue during that time. He looses his money in the war against France. Civil war starts and the barons take over London. The Magna Carta puts limits on John so he cannot take advantage of his people. People believe it is the standards for rights and liberty in the 17th century, the basis for the bill of rights in England and America, and the declaration of independence in America. -
1514
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus had a fascination with astrology. He studied the earth centered cycle and found that it was much more esthetically pleasing and harmonus if you put the sun in the center of the universe rather than the earth. He found that all of the planets rotate the sun and the moons rotate the planets. No one believed him during his time. -
Oct 31, 1517
Martin Luther: 95 Thesis
During Martin Luther's age the Catholic church was selling indulgences to absolve sin. Martin believed that people can only reach salvation through their faith and not the acts they commit. The 95 Thesis is a list of discussion topics that Martin put up on the Catholic church that questioned the selling of indulgences. Because of these questions the protestant religion was formed. Martin's 95 Thesis changed the course of religion and culture in the west. -
Inclosure Acts
Before the Inclosure Acts land was common. Everyone had access to use it. After the Inclosure Acts land became privately owned. The landlords had tenants who worked their land. There was a series of over 5,000 different Inclosure Acts between 1604 and 1914. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was established by the pilgrams on the Mayflower. It was a set of rules to self govern themselves. The Mayflower was supposed to land in Virginia but landed in Massachusetts instead, leaving them alone. Soon more settlers arrived and colonized the surrounding areas. They established a general court based upon the compact. Each town elected representatives to attend the court, creating the representative government. -
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was the signing of two treaties, the Munster and Osnabruck, that ended the thirty year war in Europe. -
Committees of Correspondence
The first Committee of Correspondence was formed in Boston in 1772. The Committees of Correspondence were patriots who banned together from each colony to form emergency governments established in response to the British Policy on the eve of the American Revolution. They also served as a vast network of communication throughout the 13 colonies. -
Adam Smith: The Wealth of Nations
Originally the government thought that if you hoard silver and gold inside your country and don't spend it then the country will become rich. But Adam argues that a nation's wealth is really the stream of goods and services that it creates. He believed that people's natural self-interest would push more economic growth. Whatever people find interesting they will want to buy. If you have that all over the country and open up trade then spending will increase making the economy increase. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was written by the Continental Congress on July 2nd and put into place on July 4th to approve the separation of the 13 colonies from Great Britain. It was a revolution! -
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel was a German philosopher of epistemology, ethics and aesthetics. His first critique of three was "The Critique of Pure Reason." He studied what reason alone could determine without the help of the senses. -
Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers is a book publishes in 1788 that was a compilation of 85 letters written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay to newspapers. The letters supported the U.S. Constitution. Many people were also writing negative reviews to the newspaper but these letters helped point out great factors in the constitution. They argued that it would preserve the union and give the federal government enough power to act in the favor of the nation. -
Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy in America
Alexis was a sociologist and political theorist who came to America to study the prisons here and then wrote the book "Democracy in America" in 1835. He studied equality in America. He found it ironic that as a freedom seeking nation people mistreated the native people and believed slavery was okay. -
Karl Marx
Karl and Friedrich Engels wrote the "Communist Manifesto." It describes socialism and how it will come about when capitalism fails. Marx believed that capitalism would "dig its own grave." They believed that the working man would take over the world through socialism.
A third of the world has lived in a society based upon socialism. Although the socialism may not have been Marx's view on what it should be. -
Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions
The Declaration of Sentiment and the Seneca Falls Convention started the women's rights movement. The declaration argues that women are oppresses by the government and society. Women are oppressed in participation, representation in government, property rights in marriage, divorce law, education, employment, and women's suffrage. It was written primarily by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. 68 women and 32 men signed the declaration, however, many took their name off due to social ridicule. -
Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Women
Sojourner was born a slave but ran away after the New York Anti-Slavery Law was passed. In 1851 she delivered the famous "Ain't I a Woman" speech at the Women's Rights Convention in Akron Ohio that was about abolitionism and women's rights. She was a very strong activist before and after the Civil War for the rights of African Americans and women's rights. -
Abraham Lincoln: Gettysburg Address
President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863 on the battlefield near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He spoke about the men who had died on the battlefield and how sacred the place will be because of them. They gave their lives for the betterment of the future and the nation. He said their deaths will not be in vain and that they will build a great nation from their sacrifice. One that is free and governed by the people. -
Max Weber: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
Max theorized religion ethics, capitalism, their ties and effect. He found areas with high populations of protestants had larger economic growth. Protestants believe you should be a tool of God, to leave the world a better place than when you entered it and never overindulge. Calvonism is the belief that if God is all knowing then he knows who will be accepted to salvation. To prove you were one of the few saved you had to contribute to the community by working hard and investing your money. -
John Maynard Keynes
John was an economy theorist who wrote "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1935-36)." He believed that if you put money into the economy then it will kick start the economy. For example, if you hire workers to build you are providing jobs. When those workers need food they spend the money they make. It’s a big circle that pushes money through everything. It does cause a lot of debt for the government but if the economy is thriving then so will the government. -
Port Huron Statement
The statement was written by a group of roughly sixty students in a democratic society. Tom Hayden was one of the important students pushing for this statement. The students became involved in the Civil Rights movement and were upset that other liberals were not more supportive. They also disapproved of the Vietnam War. They knew that the lack of democracy was the cause of these issues. They pushed for more democracy to help solve them. This push grew so large that it started a new left wing. -
Milton Friedman
Milton was the creator of the theory of monetarism. He believed that by controlling the supply of money the government could stabilize the economy. Milton and Anna Scwartz published "A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960." It showed the relationship of the monetary growth and the price level between 1867- 1960. -
Martin Luther King: I have a Dream
Martin Luther King delivered the speech "I Have a Dream" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for jobs and freedom. He was an African American man fighting for the rights of African American people. He talks argues the rights African Americans should have and the justice and freedom they deserve. Despite of the difficulties and frustrations he still hopes for the best and the American dream for all. He hopes to one day be equal with all races.
