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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
A charter of liberties to which the English barons forced King John to give his assent as he was excommunicated in a dispute over the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury. He confiscated church property and sold it back to his bishop for profit. This money went towards wars. -
Feb 1, 1473
Copernicus
Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who formulated that the Sun, rather than the earth was placed at the center of the universe. -
Oct 31, 1517
Martin Luther: 95 Thesis
Widely regarded as the initial catalyst for the protestant reformation, the 95 Theses question the Catholic Church's practice of selling indulgences. Luther argued that Christians were being falsely told that they could obtain absolution for souls in purgatory by buying indulgences. -
Mayflower Compact
The first governing document of Plymouth Colony written by separatist Congregationalists who called themselves "Saints" or "Pilgrims" or "Pilgrim Fathers". They settled because they were fleeing from religious persecution by King James of England. -
Peace of Westphalia
Drafted 1646-1648 - Signed May 15th, 1648 Ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic. This treaty established religious acceptance and tolerance for Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists throughout the Holy Roman Empire and granted complete independence to Holland, Switzerland, and numerous other countries. It is claimed by many historians that the Peace of Westphalia established the principles of national sovereignty of t -
Immanuel Kant
German philosopher who argued that reason is the source of morality, that aesthetics arise from a faculty of disinterested judgement, that space and time are forms of our understanding, and that the world as it is "in itself" is unknowable. -
Adam Smith: The Wealth of Nations
One of the world's first collected descriptions of what builds nations' wealth and is a fundamental work in classical economics to this day. It touches upon topics such as division of labor, productivity, and free markets. -
Declaration of Independence
Written by Thomas Jefferson declaring the freedom of the thirteen American colonies from Great Britain. -
US Constitution
A document that embodies the fundamental laws and principles in which the U.S. is governed. -
Federalist Paper
Series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to persuade the voters of New York to adopt the Constitution. -
Karl Marx
German philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist - economic work laid the basis for much of the current understanding of labor and its relation to capital and subsequent economic thought. He published The Communist Manifesto. -
Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy in America
An analysis of why republican representative democracy has succeeded in the United States while failing in so many other places. This work speculates on the future of democracy in the United States by discussing possible threats to democracy and possible dangers of democracy. -
Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions
Document about equality from the first women's rights convection signed by 68 women and 32 men. This declaration caused much controversy. Although many people respected the courage and abilities behind drafting this document, there was a shortcoming of people able to abandon conventional mindsets. -
Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman?
Sojourner Truth's speech "Ain't I a woman?" was delivered at the Women's Convection as an anti slavery speech. There is no single version as there have been many renditions, yet overall her speech is centered around the idea that she doesn't have rights at this time because she is female, not because of the color of her sin. She stands up by not focusing on her race and fighting for equal rights. -
Abraham Lincoln: Gettysburg Address
One of the most influential statements of national purpose, the Gettysburg Address discussed the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence and proclaimed the Civil War as a struggle for the preservation of the Union sundered by the secession crisis. This brought a new birth of freedom bringing true equality o all citizens. -
Common Land: Enclosure (England and Scotland)
Legal process of enclosing a number of small landholdings to create one larger farm in England. The land, once enclosed, became restricted by the owner and would be used for farming and agriculture. This process of enclosure created a landless working class that provided the labor required in the developing areas. -
Max Weber: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalizm:Chapter 2
Weber wrote that capitalism in Northern Europe evolved when the Protestant ethic influenced large numbers of people to engage in work in the secular world as it was an important force behind the unplanned and uncoordinated emergence of modern capitalism. -
Jurgen Habermas
Best known for his theories on communicative rationality and the public sphere. Also has worked with the concept of modernity and the discussion of rationalization originally set forth by Max Weber. -
Derrick Bell: Critical Race Theory
Bell's work focused on the theoretical framework in the social sciences focused upon the application of critical theory, a critical examination of society and culture, to the intersection of race, law, and power. -
Port Huron Statement
Manifesto of the North American student activist movement "Students for a Democratic Society". This later formed into the "Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee" as it shifted away from labor unions. Based on the idea that individual citizens could help make social decisions determining quality and direction of their lives brought the term "participatory democracy" into the common parlance. -
Martin Luther King: I have a Dream
Delivered at a large rally in Washington to supporters of the civil rights movement, Dr. King's speech captured his dream for equality among the nations. This speech was a major component to the change throughout the civil rights movement towards a more equal society. -
Carol Gilligan: Different Voice
Book on gender studies in which Gilligan criticized Kohlberg's stages of moral development of children. She noted that the reason Kohlberg had biased evidence was because Kohlberg's participants were largely male -
Robert Putnam: Civil Society
Argued that non-political organizations in a civil society are vital because they build social capital, trust and shared values. According to Putnam, there is a reason to suspect that democratic disarray may be linked to a broad and continuing erosion of civic engagement that began over 25 years ago. Therefore, high on our scholarly agenda should be the question of whether a comparable erosion of social capital may be under way in other advanced democracies. And high on America's agenda should b