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500 BCE
Ancient Greek Democracy
We have borrowed many aspects of democracy from the early Athenian examples of democracy and so its importance should not be downplayed in the evolution of democracy and liberalism. -
1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta can be viewed as a forebearer of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms it was a document signed by the king of England that limited that powers of the king and promised fundamental rights to the citizens. -
Period: 1301 to 1501
Renaissance
A time of social intellect artistic and political change a bridge between the middle ages and today. The great minds of the Renaissance believed in the value of an individual's worth and dignity, they placed more merit in reason than faith and believed that we all choose our own paths, this was a beginning of a departure from the belief in a higher power choosing our fate. -
Period: 1500 to
Haudenosaunee Confederacy
An alliance of six nations that followed a set of key principles called The Great Law of Peace that among other things included. A division of power among various branches. Equal participation by citizens, including women. And an establishment of rights and freedoms, including freedom of speech religion, and rights of the individual. Many ideals held in the American constitution where mirrored from The Great Law of Peace. -
Period: 1517 to
Reformation
The name given to a movement in the European churches started in Germany by a pastor named Martin Luther, Luther believed the church had become corrupt and in this corruption had strayed from its purpose and demanded reform, he and others who shared the same beliefs broke from the Roman Catholic church forming new denominations such as Lutheran at this period in time the churches power waned and faith in humans rational nature became more prevalent. -
The Enlightenment
As the ideas of the Reinassance and Reform gained traction Philosophers began to promote new thoughts about human nature, which would lead to the development of classical liberalism -
Period: to
Industrial Revolution
with a growing acceptance of science and rational thought being applied to everyday life great improvements where made in farming and industry making people move en masse to cities in search of work technology helped mass produce products in factories and created easier methods of transit with the invention of the steam engine, land that used to be publicly owned and grazed on was purchased for private use, forcing farmers into towns for work. but there were now fewer jobs due to automation. -
American Revolution
no longer wanting to be taxed by a government overseas the colonies revolted and after multiple battles were able to declare themselves independent under the Declaration of independence which set in place a republican form of government where the power to rule came from the people and not a foreign monarch. -
French Revolution
Impoverished and under a monarch spurred on by the success of the American Revolution and the debt that the country had entered assisting the Americans a revolution began in France led by the storming of the Bastille an important prison, the revolution left the country in turmoil with no real leader for a long period of time multiple vocal opponents where beheaded leading to a period of terror where many people where executed. The Declaration of the Rights of Man was eventually signed in 1789. -
Changes to Class System
while social classes died away with the rise of classical liberalism a new kind of class system arose structured around wealth, while people could still be born into a higher class by virtue of their parents wealth it was in theory easier to advance up the social ladder and prevented people from being stuck in one caste based on what their parents where.
