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Rule
of
Law: The Story of Human Rights in World History |
Declarations of Right 1215-1791:
Introduction to the legal and political precursors to the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Discusses Magna Carta (1215), Habeas Corpus Act (1679), English Bill of Rights (1689), John Locke's Second Treatise on Government (1690), Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Social Contract (1762), and The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen (1789).
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Although we are most familiar with our own "founding documents," the U.S. Declaration of Independence (1776) and Constitution (1791) are only part of an on-going debate about the role of government and the rights of citizens. Consider these earlier documents:
The English
Magna Carta (1215) and Habeas
Corpus Act (1679) determined that even kings must be subject to
the laws of the land. Both documents emerged from struggles between
the king and a group of lords, which would develop into the modern Parliament.
During
the Enlightenment, philosophers living under repressive monarchies began
to discuss inherent "rights" of individuals to form and influence
their governments. John Locke (Second Treatise on Government, 1690)
and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Social Contract, 1762) are the most famous
examples of political philosophers whose ideas became foundations for
the democratic revolutions of the 17th and 18th centuries. In the excerpts
from the worksheets below, what fundamental concepts are discussed by
Locke and Rousseau?
The Glorious
Revolution (1688) brought the West its first Bill
of Rights guaranteed to the English people by the new monarchs,
William and Mary of Orange (1689). Notice how the document is structured
begins with a list of grievances against the exiled James II to justify
both the right to depose the king and the rights that must be protected
by the new sovereigns. How do the first set of rights demanded limit
the power of current and future English monarchs? How is the English
Bill of Rights similar in structure and purpose to the Declaration of
Independence? The U.S. Bill of Rights?
The American
Revolution (1775-1781) showed the world that rebellion against a powerful
monarchy was possible. In 1789, a revolution against
Louis XVI began in France when the king clashed with the Estates-General,
as assembly similar to Parliament. The Estates-General wrote its Declaration
of Rights of Man and Citizen (1789) based heavily on the American
declaration of 1776. What parallels do you see, both in the structure
and the rights demanded? How does the French declaration draw on the
same sources as the American one?
Finally,
how do the U.S.
Constitution and Bill of Rights respond to earlier ideas about the
relationship between individuals and their governments? To earlier ideas
about the rights of the individual?
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BACKGROUND AND EXERCISES Magna
Carta Connections (1215): [View
as: Habeas
Corpus Act (1679): Background on Habeas Corpus Act and
paragraphs from the Habeas Corpus Act that can be connected
to familiar contemporary legal rights.
[View
as: The Second Treatise on Government
(1690): Exercise in translating passages and understanding
Locke's ideas about the state of nature, reasons for forming
states, consent of the governed and the dissolution of tyrannical
states. [View
as: The
Social Contract (1762): Exercise in translating passages
and understanding how Rousseau's idea of general will
came to shape our own understanding of the role of the legislature
in writing just laws. [View
as: The French Revolution at GMU: Great site for background on the French Revolution |
page created by Hallie Fader, ORIAS, July 2004.
Sponsored by the University of California at Berkeley Office of Resources for International and Area Studies (ORIAS), Institute of East Asian Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Institute of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, Center for South Asia Studies, Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Institute of European Studies.
Funding is provided by Title VI grants from the United States Department of Education.