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509 BCE
The Roman Empire
In 509 B.C.E., the Roman Republic was formed. It was democratic in a sense that there was two consuls that were elected by the peoples every year. It was fully lead by a Senate. After Caeser invaded Rome and was assassinated, his nephew Augustus killed the assassinators, and declared himself the Roman emperor, effectively turning the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. This influenced Canadian democracy with a setback, having little democracy mentioned until later. -
500 BCE
Democracy in Ancient Greece
In Greece, Athenians used a slightly different form of modern democracy. It was different because every adult had to participate in it. It affected Canadian democracy because it was the first ever democracy to be created. -
1215
The Magna Carta
This point in time was important. It was written to prevent the King and his government are not above the law whatsoever. It was to stop the King from exploiting his power. This influenced Canadian democracy because it helped democracy slowly blossom into what it is now, as well as generally aiding with exploiting power. It also affected our current laws and values in a good way. -
Thomas Hobbes
An English philosopher, despite preferring monarchy over other forms of government, Thomas Hobbes believed that high power government should support citizens' safety and happiness over anything. The influence on democracy this had was, well, this is a democratic ideal. -
Iroquois Confederacy
The Iroquois Confederacy is labelled as one of the oldest participatory democracies in the world. It was a First Nations Iroquoian speaking confederacy built on democracy. It was a group of 5 tribes that helped with the French and British attempting to take over North America. This influenced Canadian democracy due to their laws and ideals being democratic and in turn similar to our current laws and ideals. -
The Divine Right of Kings
The Divine Right Of Kings was essentially a way to tell others they would not listen to them. Created by James I, it was a mindset that no parliament or government could hold them accountable for any actions they committed, only God could. This influenced us by setting democracy back yet again, making it impossible for it to make others listen to the democratic ways of the government type. -
John Locke
John Locke was one of the first real democratic people in the world. John Locke inspired many democratic ideals and was one of the first to have the idea that all persons beliefs mattered. -
American Revolution
The American Revolution is a very known thing, where America tried to break off from Britain, but they did not allow it. So in retaliation, America revolutionized and became their own free country. This influenced Canadian democracy as this was a non-democratic event in which the British were not allowing their country to be free. -
French Revolution
Instead of breaking from a country, the French revolution broke from themselves. They caused a large social movement to change their leaders and change their general governmental ways. This is a clear cut example of democracy, effectively also making France one of the first democratic countries. This influenced Canadian government because some of Canada is French, and if French is a democracy, why shouldn't we be? -
British Parliament
Similarly to The Magna Carta, the British Parliament limited the monarchy's power and was in a sense a democratic way of living. This influenced our democracy due to us being under British control at first, affecting our democracy now. -
The Great Depression
The Great Depression was an event in which banks crashed and almost little to no money could be found. Many people starved to death due to not being able to pay for food. This influenced Canadian democracy by leading the government to generally have more activism in the country/economy. -
the 1960s
The 1960s was a time in which many protests against war and world issues. Anti-war protests and civil rights brought democracy to a new birth in Canada, effectively making it the country it is today. Without these many events democracy might not have even existed.