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1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta means “The Great Charter” and is considered to be one the most famous documents in the world. It was issued by King John of England and the goal of it was to create a practical solution to political crisis of the time. The Magna Carta stated that everyone, included the King had to follow the law. It also was the cornerstone to the British constitution. -
1508
Nicolaus Copernicus
A Polish astronomer who had a theory about planet rotation. He thought that the sun sat in one spot and the planets orbit it. They turn on their axis and turn around the sun, thus starting the “Sun-Centered” system. This thought came to him in 1508 but he kept working on it until 1543. -
Mayflower Compact
In 1620 there was an agreement made on the Mayflower; however, it wasn’t called the Mayflower Compact until 1793. It was designed to create positive, original and social impact that would change and establish the civil society they were hoping to accomplish in, now known as, Cape Cod. It is also believed to have had a huge influence on the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. -
Inclosure Acts (Enclosure Acts)
It started in 1750 and by the end of the 19th century everyone was on board with it. This act means that communal fields, meadows, and pastures are no longer okay to do. Instead the Inclosure Act states that land was now divided by invisible lines to say who gets what land. People would pay taxes on it, and could not take other people’s food off of THEIR land. People believed it would make agriculture more efficient by people having their own land. -
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
He is a philosopher, writer, and political theorist. He had a thought that all people are good by nature but have been immensely corrupted by society and civilization. He wrote “Discourse on the Origin of Inequality”, and it stated that there are two kinds of inequality; natural and artificial. He exonerates nature and blames society for the way humans act. -
Committees of Correspondence
The Committees of Correspondence were Patriot emergency governments. They would interact with the thirteen colonies Patriots. The first one was formed in 1772 in Boston. This was the same time of the Boston Tea Party, where the British were trying to tax the tea. So, the Patriots would communicate with each other and to the British to try and avoid war. -
Adam Smith: The Wealth of Nations
It is believed that “The Wealth of Nations” had a larger impact on Americans than the Declaration of Independence. Smith wrote a book about the mercantilist system. Meaning that he believed nations should sell their goods to other countries but not buy anything back. He believes that people should be self investing, and that self-interest plays a huge role in people, and the government. -
Immanuel Kant
Kant published the “Critique of Pure Reason”, which was very important on Western thought. He was trying to explain how reason and experiences interact with thought and understanding. This was a very revolutionary idea/proposal. He explained how the individuals mind organizes all the different experiences thus leading to an over understand on how the world works, to that person. -
Mary Wollstonecraft
She was an early American feminist. She wrote the book “Thoughts on the Education of Daughters” in 1787. Her worked showed that she believed the education system purposefully trained women to be frivolous and incapable. She said that in school’s women and men had different expectations, leading to different results. She knew that her advocating to schools about this would not make a difference so she made it a political issue. She wanted a radical reform of national education systems. -
U.S. Constitution (vs The Articles of Confederation)
The Constitution was the second constitution to the United States. It was ratified by New Hampshire on June 21, 1788. It was the second constitution, and there was extreme changes made. A majority of the changes had to do with solidifying the States as one. It also showed everyone who was in charge; everything had to go through a higher power, and it had to be done in an official manor. (reference image to see some of the changes). -
Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers is an 85 page letter written to the newspaper in the late 1780’s. The purpose of it was that the Constitution needed approval from nine of the thirteen states. The authors of this were; Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. It wasn’t published until 1788. -
Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy in Amerca
He wrote on the most influential books of the 19th century in American, “Democracy in America” He brought up observations of equality and individualism. He realized that individualism really meant that a few people would be great and an individual, whereas the rest would be lost in a sea of people. He also wrote about how America is supposed to be full of “Freedom” yet we took over Native American land, abused them and embraced slavery. -
Abraham Lincoln" Gettysburg Address
Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863 on the battlefield. In this speech he explained the importance of human equality, and reminded people that the sacrifices of the Civil War will have to lead to “a new birth of freedom”. -
John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes was an English economist, journalist, financier and an economic theorist. His most important work was “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money” (1936). He was advocating for a remedy for economic recession of full-employment. -
Milton Friedman
He is famous for many things, one of them being his work in 1957 “A Theory of the Consumption Function” where he took on the view on John Maynard Keynes. He came to the conclusion that people adjust their expenditures and consumption based on their current income, but he took it a step farther and said that based on average or permanent income is how you will spend and consume. -
Martin Luther King Jr.: I Have a Dream
Martin Luther King Jr, gave his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963. He gave this speech for equality for all, he wanted jobs and freedom for all. But what he wanted most for America to “make real promises of democracy”. -
Eve Sedgwick
Sedgwick was a poet, artist, literary critic, and a teacher. Her biggest accomplishment was “Queer Theory”. She believed that it would link together different forms of progressive activism and the analytical rigor of poststructuralism about the problem of sexuality. Her hope was that it would bring sexualized objects out of politics and make them more of an intellectual debate not man v. women, heterosexual v. homosexual, or nature v. culture, and more. -
Derrick Bell
He wrote a book called “Brown v. Board Education and the Interest Convergence Dilemma.” In that book he explains that the only way Americans would support racial and social justices was if there was something in it for them, a way they would benefit. He believes the only reason Brown v. Board happened the way it did was because Americans were trying to prove they weren’t an anti-Communist military, not because they wanted racial equalities. -
Judith Butler
One of her books, “Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex” she built upon the theory that gender is socially constructed, not innate, knowing that wasn’t right she did more research and found that people do not chose their gender and it can not be shone through actions or behaviors, but all have social constructs that people follow; either consciously or not. -
Kimberle Williams Crenshaw
She leads many different groups with a variety of beliefs, some of them are;Civil Rights, Black feminist legal theory, race, racism, and law. In 1996 she co-founded the African American Policy Forum. This is a variety of projects that deliver strategies to advance social inclusion. She has done work with/for Affirmative Action Research, Policy Consortium, Multiracial Literacy, and more. She has gone over the world to show her support and to advocate for many different types of people.
