Lesson 3: What Historical Developments Influenced Modern Ideas of Individual Rights?

Primary Sources


Discourses on Livy--Niccolo Machiavelli

Machiavelli's early work on the benefits and structure of a republican government.

Link: http://www.constitution.org/mac/disclivy_.htm


New Atlantis--Francis Bacon, 1627

From Wikipedia: Released in English in 1627, this utopian novel was Bacon's creation of an ideal land where "generosity and enlightenment, dignity and splendor, piety and public spirit" were the commonly held qualities of its inhabitants.

Link: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1627bacon-atlantis.html


Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences--Luther, 1517

Luther used these theses to display his displeasure with some of the Roman Catholic clergy's abuses, most notably the sale of indulgences; this ultimately gave birth to Protestantism.

Link: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/95_Theses


Of Commerce--David Hume, 1752

Hume's essay on the ways politics and economics overlap.

Link: http://bit.ly/1GhgT


Abolition of Star Chamber

The Star Chamber was a court that heard criminal and civil cases against prominent Englishmen, who, it was believed, would not receive a fair trial in the regular courts. In 1641, it was abolished by Parliament after controversial incidents with religious dissenters.

Link: http://www.lonang.com/exlibris/organic/1641-asc.htm


Adam Smith--Wealth of Nations, 1776

Adam Smith's view on the state of economics during the Industrial Revolution as well as his thoughts on free market economies.

Link: http://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smWN.html


Contract For Quarrying & Dressing Stone, 1248

Contract between two parties regarding stone quarrying work.

Link: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1248stone.html


Declaration of Independence 1776

From Wikipedia: The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American Colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire.

Link: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm


English Bill of Rights 1689

Act passed by the British Parliament in 1689 enumerating rights of British subjects and residents.

Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/england.asp


Federalist No. 37

From Wikipedia: Federalist No. 37 is an essay by James Madison, published on January 11, 1788 discussing some of the political questions raised at the Constitutional Convention, such as the question of the authority of the state versus the liberty of the people.

Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed37.asp


Grant of a Gild to the Tanners of Rouen, 1170

A contract between King Henry II of England and the tanners of Rouen.

Link: http://bit.ly/Iegqg


Maryland Toleration Act, 1649

The Maryland Toleration Act, passed by the assembly of the Maryland colony, mandated tolerance for Christians who did not practice Anglican Christianity.

Link: https://bit.ly/2PHzlHq


Petition for a Charter of New England, March 3, 1619

A petition by the Northern Company of Adventurers to create a new settlement and local government in the area they designate as New England.

Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/charter_002.asp


Thomas Hobbes--Leviathan, 1651

In Leviathan, Hobbes set out his doctrine of the foundation of states and legitimate governments--based on social contract theories.

Link: https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/h/hobbes/thomas/h68l/