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May 15, 1215
Magna Carta
A peace treaty created and issued by King John of England to establish a law stated where everyone was to abide by the law. Magna Carta is a significant aspect of the British constitution. King John had his subjects present the Magna Carta to the Pope, after he hurt the conditions within the charter, and requested that the charter be annulled.The barons refused to surrender the city of London until the charter was implemented. Pope Innocent III did not agree with the terms within it. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was signed on November 11, 1620 as an attempt to provide temporary and legal-binding form of self-government, until it could be granted by the Council of England. The compact was sign by members aboard the Mayflower, pilgrims who were given permission by authorities to settle in Virginia. The Compact was formalized with the Pierce Patent of 1621. -
Peace of Westphalia
This treaty in 1648 ended the warfare of religion in Europe, based on the unique principals within the treaty. It brought an end to the warfare between Spain and the Dutch. The treaty was signed January 30, 1648, after negotiations began in 1644 in Westphalian towns of Münster and Osnabrück. -
Enclosure Acts
The Enclosure Act of 1773 was the Act of Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain, which was passed during George III’s reign. It enabled closure of land while removing commoner’s access. The procedure began with a petition signed by the landowner delivered to Parliament. The Act also limited the amount of traffic on paths that fell within land that was enclosed. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, and announced that the 13 colonies (American colonies) at war with Great Britain were now considered 13 independent states, no longer under British rule. The 13 states became a new nation, the United States of America. The Declaration of Independence was passed on July 2nd with no opposing votes, and ratified on July 4th. The USA celebrates and acknowledges Independence Day (July 4th), acknowledging its independence from Britain rule. -
Immanuel Kant
Kant was a German philosopher who was a major figure in modern philosophy. His published works were written on ethics, religion, aesthetics, astronomy, law, and history. One of his major works was written in 1781, Critique of Pure Reason, where he attempted to explain the relationship between reason and human experiences. Kant argued that the mind shapes our experiences. -
Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary Wollstonecraft was an Anglo-Irish feminist, writer, and intellectual. In 1792 she published her work Vindication on the Rights of a Woman, which made her both famous and infamous for her time. The work advocated for the equality of the sexes. She argued the notions men held that women were helpless. Wollstonecraft argued that education was the key to a achieving a sense of self-respect and a self-image that would enable themselves. -
Declarations of Sentiments and Resolutions
The Declaration of Sentiments was a document that outlined the rights that American women should be entitled to as United States citizens. The document was read at a Seneca Falls Convention in New York in July 1848. The Declaration of Sentiments was a speech mainly written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who based the speech on the Declaration of Independence. -
Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman
Notes: Sojourner Truth delivered a speech “Aint I a woman” at a Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio on December 1851. Her speech spoke out for advocacy for women’s rights, and her speech is now well known in American History. -
Abraham Lincoln: Gettsyburg Address
In November 19, 1863 Abraham Lincoln was invited to deliver a speech at the dedication ceremony for the National Cemetery of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. The cemetery is the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. Lincoln’s speech consisted of 273 words, and considered one of the most important speeches in American history. Lincoln remarked that the Civil War was the test that determined whether the Union of 1776 would survive or fall apart. -
Simone de Beauvoir
Simone de Beauvoir was a French writer and existentialist. In 1949 she published The Second Sex. She critiqued the patriarchy and second rate status that women were granted throughout history. It is now considered one of the most important and recognized works of feminism for its time. This published work caused major controversy as the Vatican placed it on the list of banned texts, while others categorized the work as pornography. -
Port Huron Statement
On June 15, 1962 Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), completed their manifesto, which is known as the Port Huron Statement. The SDS consisted of a group of students that self-identified their group as an educational and social action organization. The group completed the manifesto which voiced their concerns with the American society (such as their belief that the American Dream encouraged consumerism and conformity), and their hopes for society in the future. -
Martin Luther King: I Have a Dream Speech
On August 28, 1963 in Washington, D.C. King delivered his “I Have a Dream Speech” at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It was delivered at the Lincoln Memorial where urged the need for change and the potential possibilities and hope for the American Society. -
Milton Friedman
Friedman was self-established in 1945, with Income from Independent Professional Practice, which he co-authored with Simon Kuznets. In 1967 Friedman served as an economic advisor to President Nixon, and president of the American Economic Association. Friedman won the Nobel Prize in 1976 in economics. -
Eve Sedgwick
Sedgwick is recognized as one of the founders of the queer theory. In 1985 she published Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosexual Desire. In this work Sedgwick argued that English literature is structured around a triangulation where men desire men in a sexual manner or otherwise, and transmit that desire through a woman. -
Derrick Bell
Bell was a lawyer, professor, and civil rights activist. Derrick Bell was also the first African American professor that was granted tenure as a professor of law at Harvard University. In 1986 Bell staged a five day sit-in in his office to protest Harvard Law School’s failure to tenure to two professors on staff at Harvard, both who promoted the work of the critical race theory. The sit-in was supported by students, but divided opinions were held by faculty. -
Judith Butler
Judith Butler is a Professor at University of California Berkley, and is a theorist of power, gender, sexuality, and identity. Butler published Gender Trouble in 1990. In this book Butler argued that “sex” whether it is male or female, tends to cause a gender: feminine or masculine. Butler argued that gender and sexual desire should be freely formed by the individual, and not based on their biological sex. -
John Maynard Keynes
In 1933 Keynes published The Means to Prosperity which contained policy recommendations during the Great Depression such as unemployment during the recession. It was mainly addressed to the British government, yet also contained advice for other nations affected by the recession which occurred globally. A copy was given to the then president Franklin D. Roosevelt, and other leaders worldwide. The work was taken seriously and brought upon influential change for world leaders. -
Robert Putnam: Civil Society
In 1995 Putnam explored the role of civic involvement in the United States. Putnam wrote and published Bowling Alone in 1995, which contained a thesis statement arguing that the public life and social institutions are influenced by the “norms and networks of civic engagement”. He also argued that civic engagement included voting, participation in politics, and participation in local associations, which should cause areas of concern, as he felt the US social capitol was in decline. -
Kimberle Williams Crenshaw
Crenshaw is a Professor of Law at UCLA and Colombia Law School, and an authority figure in Civil Rights, Black feminist legal theory, and race, racism and law. Kimberle Williams Crenshaw cofounded the African American Policy Forum in 1996, which housed projects that delivered research based strategies to work on improving social inclusion. One of the Forum’s projects was the Affirmative Action Research and Policy Consortium, and the Multiracial Literacy and Leadership Initiative.
