|
18th C, B.C.E |
Hammurabi establishes first legal code |
|
16th-13th C, B.C.E |
The ten commandments are revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai. They establish the Judeo-Christian ethic as the critical foundation of modern democratic thought |
|
105 C.E |
Paper is invented in China |
|
212 |
"Civis Romanus sum" citizenship is given to freeborn subjects |
|
221 |
Han Dynasty in China includes official, but diverse news circulation |
|
600 |
Book Printing is invented in China |
|
701 |
Codification of Japanese political law |
|
790 |
Golden period of Arabic learning |
|
802 |
Germanic tribal laws codified by order of Charlemagne |
|
1020 |
Jaroslav the Wise codifies Russian law |
|
970s |
Fatimids build al-Azhar University in Cairo, the world's first university |
|
1041 |
Invention of movable type in China |
|
1119 |
Bologna University founded in Italy; Paris University, in France, is founded in 1150 |
|
1215 |
King John seals Magna Carta at Runymeade |
|
1455 |
Gutenberg invents movable-type printing press |
|
1492 |
Christopher Columbus lands on Bahama islands, Cuba, and Hispaniola (beginning of European expansion) |
|
1517 |
Martin Luther, German scholar, publishes 95 theses, launching the Reformation in Europe |
|
1619 |
First representative colonial assembly in America held at Jamestown, VA, under Governor Sir George Yeardley |
|
1625 |
Hugo Grotius publishes De Jure Belli ac Pacis, which becomes the basis of international law |
|
1646 |
Treaty of Westphalia: End of the Thirty Years’ War in Europe; Ushers in modern concept of the nation-state |
|
1628 |
The Petition of Right provides freedom of speech and bans cruel or unusual punishment, further strengthening Parliament in England |
|
1679 |
Habeas Corpus Act in England ensures no imprisonment without court appearance first |
|
1689 |
Act of Toleration and Bill of Rights is passed in England |
|
1690 |
English philosopher John Locke argues in his book, Two Treatises, that the government's job under the "social contract" is to protect "natural rights", including what he calls "the right to life, liberty, and the ownership of property" |
|
18th Cent |
Age of Enlightenment begins in Europe |
|
1735 |
Libel trial of John Peter Zeuger in New York establishes freedom of the press in North America |
|
1762 |
Jean Jacques Rousseau writes The Social Contract. He asserts that if a government fails to serve its subjects well, they should have the right to overthrow it and create a new one |
|
1775 |
Beginning of the American Revolution |
|
1776 |
Adam Smith writes Wealth of Nations |
|
1776 |
The United States declares independence |
|
1787 |
The American Constitution and Bill of Rights are established
The original U.S. Constitution permits the states to allow only white male property owners to vote or to hold an elected office. This is not changed until the 1820s.
Slavery is not abolished in the U.S. until the 13th Amendment to the constitution made slavery illegal in 1865
The 14th Amendment (1868) states that all citizens of the US have equal protection under the laws. The 15th (1870) gives the right to vote to all male citizens
The 19th Amendment (1920) gives all women the right to vote, 131 years after the U.S. Constitution is written
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes any discrimination on the basis of "race, religion, national origin, sex, or physical handicaps" illegal
The 26th Amendment (1971) gives anyone over 18 the right to vote |
|
1789 |
The beginning of the French Revolution; French revolutionaries overthrow King Louis XVI and the aristocracy in a bloody civil war
The French "Declaration of the Rights of Man" assert that people have the right to "liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression"
The new French government bans slavery in all territory under French control |
|
1790s |
A revolt in Haiti against French rule, led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, marks the first independence movement in Latin America |
|
19th C |
Apex of the Industrial Revolution |
|
1816 |
Bolivar defeats Spanish in Venezuela; independence confirmed in 1821 |
|
1829 |
The practice of suttee (widow burning) made illegal in India |
|
1833 |
Slavery is abolished in British empire |
|
1838 |
Samuel Morse perfects an electrical telegraph system |
|
1848 |
"Year of Revolution" throughout Europe |
|
1859 |
John Stuart Mill publishes On Liberty |
|
1876 |
Alexander Graham Bell sends speech through wires with the telephone |
|
1885 |
Conference in Berlin initiates the "Scramble for Africa" |
|
1885 |
Indian National Congress is founded, beginning the campaign for home rule |
|
1893 |
New Zealand becomes the first nation to fully establish a system of universal suffrage |
|
1901 |
Marconi invents wireless communication |
|
1920 |
Beginning of commercial radio broadcasting |
|
Inter-war Period |
Extension of female vote;
Great emergence of mass parties in Europe |
|
1922 |
Mussolini becomes Italian prime minister;
Becomes dictator in 1925 |
|
1927 |
Rise of Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union |
|
1933 |
Rise of Adolph Hitler in Germany |
|
1944 |
First free presidential elections in Guatemala |
|
1945 |
Defeat of the Axis Powers;
Ushers in the process of democratization in Europe and Japan |
|
1947 |
India and Pakistan gain independence;
India becomes the worlds largest democracy |
|
1948 |
The Marshal Plan helps rebuild war-torn Europe |
|
1948 |
Creation of the state of Israel; The Jewish state becomes the first durable democracy in the Middle East |
|
1948 |
The United Nations approves the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, guaranteeing all people in all countries their basic rights |
|
1951 |
Libya declares independence (beginning of post-war decolonization of Africa) |
|
1956 |
Hungarian Revolution |
|
1964 |
US Civil Rights Act bans racial discrimination in federal funding and employment |
|
1968 |
The Prague Spring |
|
1972 |
U.S. Congress passes Equal Opportunity Act in response to growing women's movement |
|
1976 |
Helsinki convention on human rights is adopted |
|
1981 |
The popularization of the personal computer |
|
1987 |
Mikhail Gorbachev introduces glasnost, or openness, encouraging Soviet citizens to debate ways to bring about needed reform |
|
1989 |
Fall of the Berlin Wall |
|
1989 |
Popular student-led, pro-democracy protests take place in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, sparking brutal Chinese government crackdown |
|
1991 |
The Soviet Union disintegrates as the Communist Party loses power; Democratic elections are held in Russia and throughout Eastern Europe |
|
1990s |
Use of the internet becomes widespread |
|
1999 |
Nigeria and Indonesia elect democratic governments |
