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Period: 2200 BCE to 130 BCE
Ancient Greece
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689 BCE
John Locke
John Locke was an English philosopher who published a book about natural rights held by every human being. His ideas about natural rights helped to form the way we think about individual rights today. -
510 BCE
Ancient Greece
The Greeks established the Assembly, a body of citizens that made decisions and voted in issues that affected everyone. All citizens could participate. Decisions made in the Assembly had to be approved by another group of citizens called the Council. By participation in government, all these citizens were giving their permission, or consent, for the government to operate. -
Period: 500 BCE to 476 BCE
Ancient Roman Empire
By 150 CE, the Roman Empire was at its height and stretched almost 2.5 million square miles! Rome was originally ruled by kings, but eventually it changed into a form of democracy. It was not a true representative democracy, because not all of its important officials were elected. However, citizens were allowed to vote for some of their representatives, and if these representatives did not please the people, they could be voted out and replaced. -
1215
Magna Carta
The English wrote the Magna Carta and included a very important section: The king was no longer allowed to do whatever he wanted. Instead, the king had to follow the "law of the land" when dealing with his subjects. It waste of the first formal documents that Madde a king subject to the law. The Magna Carta set the stage for the idea that even governments should be accountable to the law. -
Petition of Right
A petition sent by the English Parliament to King Charles the first complaining of a series of branches of law. The petition sought recognition of four principles: no taxation without the consent of Parliament, no imprisonment without cause, no quartering of soldiers on subject, and no martial law in peacetime. -
Iroquois
Before colonization, the Iroquois were semisedentary agriculturists who palisaded their villages in time of need. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights is an act that the Parliament of England. The bill creates separation of powers, limits the powers of the king and queen, enhances the democratic election and bolsters freedom of speech. -
Montesquieu
In the final books of L'Esprit des lois, added at the last last moment and imperfectly at the last moment assimilated to the rest, he addressed himself to the history of law, seeking to explain the division of France into the two zones pf written and customary law, and made his contributions to the much discussed controversy about the origin of the French aristocracy. -
Thomas Paine
England born political philosopher and writer Thomas Paine (1737-1809) helped shape many of the ideas that marked by the Age of Revolution. Published in 1776, his highly popular "Common Sense" was the first pamphlet to advocate American independence.