-
27 BCE
The Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, ruled by emperors.
This type of government has elected officials that govern the country and are responsible to the voters who elect them. The Romans created a republic after overthrowing a king. Romans are also responsible for creating a legal code written down which protected the rights of all citizens. -
5 BCE
Democracy in Ancient Greece
Athenian democracy was a system of government where all male citizens could attend and participate in the assembly which governed the city-state. Athens, therefore, had a direct democracy. The Ancient Greek Law introduced democracy and used it to make decisions and that is the reason we have it in our Legal System today. -
1215
The Magna Carta
Magna Carta was issued in June 1215 and was the first document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government was not above the law. It sought to prevent the king from exploiting his power, and placed limits of royal authority by establishing law as a power in itself.
Magna Carta has often been valued as a symbol of freedoms, liberties, and the rule of law. Through its reflection in our Constitution, it has affected Canadian life in a practical way. -
1215
British Parliament
Britain is a parliamentary monarchy . The British Parliament is a bicameral parliament , that is to say that it is made up of two chambers, or two "Houses"; above the two Houses, but in an essentially formal role , there is the Sovereign. Though Canada is an independent country, Britain's Queen Elizabeth remains the nation's head of state. However, the sole reason Canada is independent in regards to Britan is because they did not favor Britans prominent decisions. -
Divine Right of Kings
The divine right of kings, in European history, a political doctrine in defense of monarchical absolutism, which asserted that kings derived their authority from God and could not, therefore, be held accountable for their actions by any earthly authority such as a parliament.
Canadian monarchism is a movement for raising awareness of Canada's constitutional monarchy among the Canadian public, and advocating for its retention. -
John Locke
John Locke was an English philosopher and political theorist who was born in 1632 in Wrington, Somerset, England. He is known to believe human beings are good-minded instead of evil-minded. Often credited as a founder of modern “liberal” thought, Locke pioneered the ideas of natural law, social contract, religious toleration, and the right to the revolution that proved essential to both the American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution that followed. -
Iroquois Confederacy
racy had a distinct language, territory, and function in the League. The League is governed by a Grand Council, an assembly of fifty chiefs or sachems, each representing a clan of a nation. In 1988, the U.S. Senate paid tribute with a resolution3 that said, "The confederation of the original 13 colonies into one republic was influenced by the political system developed by the Iroquois Confederacy, as were many of the democratic principles which were incorporated into the constitution itself." -
The American Revolution
The American Revolution was caused by colonial opposition to British attempts to impose greater control over the colonies and to make them repay the crown for its defense of them during the French and Indian War. The Revolution unleashed powerful forces that would transform the post-Revolution politics and society, including increased participation in politics and governance, the legal institutionalization of religious toleration, and the growth and diffusion of the population. -
The French Revolution
The French Revolution was a period of major social disturbance that began in 1787 and ended in 1799. It sought to completely change the relationship between the rulers and those they governed and to redefine the nature of political power. The spirit of the revolution went on to influence the rebels behind the (failed) rebellion of Upper and Lower Canada in 1837. -
The Great Deppression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression between 1929 and 1939 that began after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The Canadian government responded to the Great Depression by applying severe restrictions to entry into Canada. New rules limited immigration to British and American subjects or agriculturalists with money, certain classes of workers, and immediate family of the Canadian residents. -
Thomas Hobbes
Hobbes believed that a government headed by a king was the best form that the sovereign could take. Placing all power in the hands of a king would mean more resolute and consistent exercise of political authority, Hobbes argued. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book Leviathan, in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. -
The 1960s
The Sixties dominated by the Vietnam War, Civil Rights Protests, the 60s also saw the assassinations of US President John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and finally ended on a good note when the first man is landed on the moon. Canada in the 1960s was deeply affected by the civil rights and anti-war struggles in the United States. It was likewise caught up in the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements that swept the world.