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Period: 2200 BCE to 130 BCE
The start of a democratic government government in the Greek city-state of the Athens.
This system had the idea that everyone could participate in the government.
The purpose of the government was to protect people's rights. Citizens would vote on how to run the city. Government officials were chosen randomly, by a lottery system because they thought every citizen should hold office and also juries were chosen randomly. -
Period: 500 BCE to 476
The beginnings of Representative Government in the ancient Roman Empire
Even thought it was not a true "representative democracy" because not all of it's important officials were elected; citizens were allowed to vote for some of the representatives, and if these didn't please the people, they could be voted out and replaced. -
689
John Locke publishes a book about the natural rights held by every human being
He was an English philosopher that helped to form the way we see individual rights today. -
1100
The Iroquois, a group of Native American tribes, formed an alliance to work together toward a common goal
Similar to the Founding Fathers federal system, the Iroquois divided powers. -
1215
The Magna Carta
It has a very important line which said that the king was no longer allowed to do whatever he wanted. The Magna Carta set the stage for the idea that even governments should be accountable to the law. -
Petition of Rights
This asked for a settlement of Parliament's complaints against the King's non-parliamentary taxation and imprisonments without trial, plus the unlawfulness of martial law and forced billets. -
Montesquieu describes a new type of system
He wrote that power should be divided into branches, an idea which; later on was an influence for our Founding Fathers when designing our government system. -
Thomas Paine and "Common Sense"
Thomas influenced the American Revolution, and helped pave the way for the Declaration of Independence. -
The English Bill of Rights and The constitution
The bill of rights follows the idea of individual rights, that every person has a claim or privilege to have for themselves. This document was later on attached to end of the Constitution.