Human rights timeline part 1

Part I:
From Antiquity to
the Magna Carta
The Great Religious Texts
Early Codification of Laws
Human Rights Timeline

3100-2850 BCE
Menes, the first Pharaoh of the Egyptian dynasty, establishes codes of
conduct for the Egyptian civilization. Menes founded Egypt’s first dynasty,
uniting Upper and Lower Egypt. As the first king of the earliest nation-state,
Menes personifies the idea of a centralized government and political
system—the necessary basis for any coherent set of laws.
Menes also was known as
Narmer and is credited with
founding the first imperial
city, Memphis, near modern
Cairo. Many great religions
are precursors of human
rights in their requirements
to treat fellow humans with
dignity and help provide for
each other’s needs as the
basis for a good
community.

1792-1750 BCE
Babylonian King Hammurabi issues the first surviving set of laws, the
Code of Hammurabi, based on revelation from Shamash, the god of
justice. A compilation of legal procedure and penalties, the Code of
Hammurabi covered all civil and criminal disputes and reflected the
then-novel belief that law can be fixed and certain, rather than a series
of random responses by political leaders to various forms of conduct.

Here are 13 example laws (there are 282 total), in their entirety, of the Code of Hammurabi:

1.  If any one ensnare another, putting a ban upon him, but he can not prove it, then he
that ensnared him shall be put to death.
2.  If any one bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap
into the river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the
river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had
brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall
take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser.
3.  If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what
he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death.
4.  If any one steal the minor son of another, he shall be put to death.
5.  If a son strike his father, his hands shall be hewn off.
6.  If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out. [ An eye for an eye ]
7.  If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out. [ A tooth for a
tooth ]
8.  If a man strike a free-born woman so that she lose her unborn child, he shall pay ten
shekels for her loss.
9.  If the woman die, his daughter shall be put to death.
10.  If a builder build a house for some one, and does not construct it properly, and the
house which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.
11.  If it kill the son of the owner the son of that builder shall be put to death.
12.  If a man give his child to a nurse and the child dies in her hands, but the nurse
unbeknown to the father and mother nurses another child, then they shall convict her of
having nursed another child without the knowledge of the father and mother and her
breasts shall be cut off.
13.  If during an unsuccessful operation a patient dies, the arm of the surgeon must be cut
off.

18th-15th Century BCE
The Five Books of Moses (also known
as the Pentateuch) emerge, creating
the foundation of the Jewish faith. The
Torah which is the first of three parts of
the Tanakh (i.e., Hebrew Bible), is the
founding religious document of
Judaism. It is divided into five books:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy. The Torah contains
themes including common concern for
the welfare and rights of others.
Furthermore, the Ten Commandments
(from Exodus) establish a code of
conduct toward others. Some of the
ancient commandments have
descendants in modern law, such as
penalties against murder and theft.

800-500 BCE
The Upanishads are written outlining the Vedic beliefs in the relationship
between the individual soul, ultimate truth, and Karma, as well as the belief
that individual actions have ongoing moral consequences. The word
“Upanishad” consists of three words—“Upa” means “near”, “ni” means “down”
and “shad” means “be seated”. So, “Upanishad” means, “be seated at the
feet of the Guru to receive the teaching.”

The Upanishads speak of a universal spirit
(Brahman) and an individual soul (Atman),
and at times assert the identity of both.
Brahman is the ultimate, both transcendent
and immanent, the absolute infinite
existence, the sum total of all that ever is,
was, or shall be. The Upanishads constitute
the Vedanta (Veda-anta), the end of the
Vedas, not merely because they constitute
the last part of them, but above all because
they are their ultimate teachings, reaching to
the highest metaphysical state, beyond
which is the realm of Silence. They constitute
the fundamentals, the essence of the Hindu
philosophy. Upanishads give us both spiritual
vision and philosophical argument. There is a
core of certainty which is essentially
incommunicable except by a way of life. It is
by a strictly personal effort that one can
reach the truth.

6th Century BCE
Cyrus the Great, King of the Medes and the Persians, issues the
“Charter of Freedom of Mankind,” considered the first charter of
human rights. It is a baked-clay cylinder in the Akkadian language with
cuneiform script. There were three main premises in the decrees of the
Cyrus Cylinder: the political formulization of racial, linguistic, and
religious equality; slaves and all deported peoples were to be allowed
to return to home; and all destroyed temples were to be restored.

551-479 BCE
K’ung Fu Tzu, pronounced Confucius, establishes the dominant moral
and political philosophy in China, Confucianism. The highest Confucian
virtue “Jen” is described by Confucius as the principle “to love all men.”
The main principle of Confucianism is ren (“humaneness” or
“benevolence”), signifying excellent character in accord with li (ritual
norms), zhong (loyalty to one’s true nature), shu (reciprocity), and xiao
(filial piety). Together these constitute de (virtue). Confucianism is
characterized by a highly optimistic view of human nature.

The faith in the possibility of ordinary human
beings to become awe-inspiring sages and
worthies is deeply rooted in the Confucian
heritage (Confucius himself lived a rather
ordinary life), and the insistence that human
beings are teachable, improvable, and
perfectible through personal and communal
endeavor is typically Confucian.

509-44 BCE
Rome flourishes under a Republic. Roman values under the Republic emphasize selfless
service to the community, individual honor, the necessity of the law, and shared power
and decision making. The Roman Republic develops a representative government along
with a judicial system. Both the Roman form of government and the Roman form of law
become the basis for many later European legal codes still in use today. The Republic
ends in 44 BCE when, after civil war, Julius Caesar is named Emperor for life.

The Roman Republic was governed by a complex constitution, which centered on the
principles of a separation of powers and checks and balances. The evolution of the
constitution was heavily influenced by the struggle between the aristocracy (the
patricians), and other Romans who were not from famous families, the plebeians. Early in
its history, the republic was controlled by an aristocracy of individuals who could trace
their ancestry back to the early history of the kingdom. Over time, the laws that allowed
these individuals to dominate the government were repealed, and the result was the
emergence of a new aristocracy which depended on the structure of society, rather
than the law, to maintain its dominance.

479-431 BCE
Democracy in the Greek city-state reached its
zenith in Athens under Pericles, providing the
building blocks of modern democratic society.
Supported by the citizens of Athens, reforms
inaugurated by Pericles passed the governance
of Athens from a tight aristocracy to its citizens.
Under Pericles, official offices were rotated.
Citizens provided essential services to the state.
Officials and jurors were for the first time paid by
the state, thus opening up public service to the
poor and minimizing improper control of the law,
justice and civic resources. All citizens were
encouraged to attend the Assembly of Athens
and participate directly in acting on legislation—
public safety, religion, security, food supply, and
public expenditures. Much of the magnificence of
Athens today reflects the vision of Pericles, and his
ability to gain the popular support and provide for
funding the vast construction projects of the
Acropolis, Parthenon and other works that today
represent the glory of Greece.

451-449 BCE
The Twelve Tables, the Roman Republic’s earliest attempt at a code of law, are
created in order to prevent patrician public officials, who adjudicated most
legal matters, from adjudicating the law based on their own preferences. The
Tables become such a symbol of Roman justice that children are required to
memorize them for the next 400 years.
By enumerating the legal rights of the citizenry, the
committee called the decemvirate (a group of ten
men) removed a shroud of mystery from Roman legal
proceedings and opened up for the public the laws’
interpretation and analysis. This move greatly
influenced the power structure of the Roman world,
untangling the reins of legislative power from the
upper patrician class and allowing greater political
and legal freedom and influence for the lower
plebeian class. This development in turn was pivotal in
the eventual resolution of the period known as the
Conflict of the Orders. The Twelve Tables would
become the basis of further Roman legal codification,
which would serve as the origin for nearly all of the
legal systems of modern Europe.

300 BCE
The four Vedas, the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda, the
primary texts of Hinduism, are recorded. These had been codified around 600 BCE,
although the teachings pre-date that era. They establish a spiritual precedent
found in later religions, including Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Scholars have
determined that the Rig Veda, the oldest of the four, was composed about 1500
BCE, and codified about 600 BCE It is unknown when it was finally committed to
writing, but this probably was at some point after 300 BCE.

The Vedas contain hymns,
incantations, and rituals from
ancient India. Along with the
Book of the Dead, the Enuma
Elish, the I Ching, and the
Avesta, they are among the
most ancient religious texts still
in existence.

262-232 BCE
King Asoka of India issued his Edicts, emphasizing goodness,
kindness and generosity. Asoka’s Edicts are mainly
concerned with the reforms he instituted and the moral
principles he recommended in his attempt to create a just
and humane society. They are to be found scattered in more
than 30 sites throughout India, Nepal, Pakistan, and
Afghanistan. Asoka’s edicts, which comprise the earliest
decipherable corpus of written documents from India, have
survived throughout the centuries because they are written
on rocks and stone pillars. Originally, there must have been
many of them, although only ten with inscriptions still survive.
These average between 40 and 50 feet in height, and weigh
up to 50 tons each.

Here is an Edict:
Beloved-of-the-Gods speaks thus: Father and mother should be respected and so
should elders, kindness to living beings should be made strong and the truth should be
spoken. In these ways, the Dhamma should be promoted. Likewise, a teacher should
be honored by his pupil and proper manners should be shown towards relations. This is
an ancient rule that conduces to long life. Thus should one act.

45-44 BCE
Cicero writes his philosophical works on humanitas, which emphasize goodwill
towards humanity. Born in 106 BC and murdered in 43 BC, Cicero’s life
coincided with the decline and fall of the Roman Republic, and he was an
important actor in many of the significant political events of his time. His
philosophy had a political purpose: the defense, and if possible the
improvement, of the Roman Republic.
The politicians of his time, he believed, were
corrupt and no longer possessed the virtuous
character that had been the main attribute of
Romans in the earlier days of Roman history. This
loss of virtue was, he believed, the cause of the
Republic’s difficulties: if the Roman elite chose
to improve their characters and place
commitments to individual virtue and social
stability ahead of their desires for fame, wealth,
and power, they would enact legislation that
would force others to adhere to similar
standards, and the Republic would flourish
once again.

30
Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure of the
Christian faith, preaches virtues of “love thy
neighbor as thyself” and for those without sin to
“cast the first stone.”

•  Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor
bear any grudge against the children of thy
people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself: I am the LORD.

•  Leviticus 19:34 But the stranger that dwelleth
with you shall be unto you as one born
among you, and thou shalt love him as •  Matthew 19:18 He saith unto
thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of him, Which? Jesus said, Thou
Egypt: I am the LORD your God. shalt do no murder, Thou shalt
not commit adultery, Thou shalt
not steal, Thou shalt not bear
•  Matthew 7:12 Therefore all things false witness. 19:19 Honour thy
whatsoever ye would that men should do to father and thy mother: and,
you, do ye even so to them: for this is the Thou shalt love thy neighbour
law and the prophets. as thyself.

1 st Century
The Tripitaka, or Pali Canon, the sacred texts of Buddhism, is transferred from
oral to written tradition, establishing Buddhist community codes of conduct to
maintain a harmonious spiritual community. The Five Precepts, which constitute
the Buddhist code of conduct, are commitments to abstain from killing,
stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and intoxication. Undertaking the five
precepts is part of both lay Buddhist initiation and regular lay Buddhist
devotional practices. They are not formulated as imperatives, but as training
rules that laypeople undertake voluntarily to facilitate practice.

6 th Century
The teachings of Muhammad are outlined
in the Qur’an, which emphasizes racial and
religous tolerance, charity and equality.
Muslims believe the Qur’an to be the book
of divine guidance and direction for
humanity and consider the text in its
original Arabic to be the literal word of
God, revealed to Muhammad through the
angel Gabriel over a period of 23 years
and view the Qur’an as God’s final
revelation to humanity.

An example:
Alms are for the poor and the needy; and
those employed to administer (the funds);
for those whose hearts have been
(recently) reconciled (to truth); for those in
bondage and in debt; in the cause of
Allah; and for the wayfarer: (thus is it)
ordained by Allah, and Allah is full of
knowledge and wisdom.

However, there are more of these kinds of sayings in the Qu’ran:

O Prophet! Make war against the unbelievers [all non-Muslims] and the
hypocrites and be merciless against them. Their home is hell, an evil refuge
indeed. (9:73)

When you meet the unbelievers in jihad [holy war], chop off their heads. And
when you have brought them low, bind your prisoners rigorously. Then set them
free or take ransom from them until the war is ended. (47:4)

When we decide to destroy a population, we send a definite order to them who
have the good things in life and yet sin. So that Allah’s word is proven true
against them, then we destroy them utterly. (17:16-17)

In order that Allah may separate the pure from the impure, put all the impure
ones [all non-Muslims] one on top of another in a heap and cast them into hell.
They will have been the ones to have lost. (8:37)

Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the
one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their
means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in
(the husband’s) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those
women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first),
(Next), refuse to share their beds, (And last) beat them (lightly); but if they return
to obedience, seek not against them Means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most
High, great (above you all). (4:34)

1096-1204
Pope Urban II launches the First Crusade to wrest the Holy Land from the Seljuk
Turks. Subsequent crusades follow. The Crusades represent the first incident of
European Imperialism. The crusades begin with the slaughter of thousands of
Jews in the Rhineland.

“All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have
immediate remission of sins. This I grant them through the power of God with which I am
invested. O what a disgrace if such a despised and base race, which worships demons, should
conquer a people which has the faith of omnipotent God and is made glorious with the name
of Christ! With what reproaches will the Lord overwhelm us if you do not aid those who, with us,
profess the Christian religion! Let those who have been accustomed unjustly to wage private
warfare against the faithful now go against the infidels and end with victory this war which
should have been begun long ago. Let those who for a long time, have been robbers, now
become knights. Let those who have been fighting against their brothers and relatives now
fight in a proper way against the barbarians. Let those who have been serving as mercenaries
for small pay now obtain the eternal reward. Let those who have been wearing themselves
out in both body and soul now work for a double honor. Behold! on this side will be the
sorrowful and poor, on that, the rich; on this side, the enemies of the Lord, on that, his friends.
Let those who go not put off the journey, but rent their lands and collect money for their
expenses; and as soon as winter is over and spring comes, let hem eagerly set out on the way
with God as their guide.”

From: Urban II, Speech at Council of Clermont, 1095.

The expansion of Islam and the Arab empire through the Seljuk Turks in the 11th
century caused a note of distress to the clergy of Christianity. The conquest of
areas in the Christian Byzantium empire helped to spur anger and resentment
against Muslims. With an ever increasing population in the western world and the
papal state’s need for power and territory the Crusades was the end result. There
were a series of campaigns against Islam and against heretics and troublemakers
in Europe itself.

The First Crusade in 1096 was sprung from Pope Urban II’s sermon in 1095. This was
the only crusade that the westerners successfully won. The eventual outcome
had the Arabs at the head. However, with thousands of dead from all faiths,
Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, who was the real victor?

To those of the Eastern world, the invasion of the Frankish people was not one of
enlightenment. It was instead an attempt to conquer a land that was for
centuries in the hands of eastern civilizations ranging from Arabs, Kurds,
Armenians, and many more people of different ethnic descent. To the Muslims
and the non-Muslims of the east, the Crusades was a war of a barbarous nature
that needed to be repelled. It was a war against their faith and their customs.
However, the decline of the Arab civilization soon after coming out victorious in
the Crusades suggests that there were deeper issues in the conflict between the
west and east. While the Crusades opened up new horizons and new trading
areas for the west, the eastern world’s establishments began to decline and
deteriorate and the lands they conquered became lost in the political power
struggle between the Arabs.

1215
After England suffers a defeat at the Battle of Bouvines, English barons rebel against
King John and force him to sign the Magna Carta. The charter established that all
free men had certain rights that even the king could not violate. It was a practical
solution to a political crisis which primarily served the interests of the highest ranks of
feudal society by reasserting the power of custom to limit despotic behavior by the
king.
The majority of the clauses in Magna Carta dealt with the regulation of feudal
customs and the operation of the justice system, not with legal theory and rights. It
was King John’s extortionate exploitation of his feudal rights and his ruthless
administration of justice that were at the core of the barons’ grievances.
All but three of Magna Carta’s clauses have now become obsolete and been
repealed, but the flexible way in which the charter has been reinterpreted through
the centuries has guaranteed its status and longevity. Of the three original clauses in
Magna Carta that are still law, one defends the freedom and rights of the English
church, another confirms the liberties and customs of London and other towns, but
the third is the most famous:

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or
stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or
exiled, nor will we proceed with force against him,
except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by
the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no
one deny or delay right or justice.

Part II:
From European Expansion to
the Enlightenment

1450-1500
The Iroquois Constitution is created, forming a confederacy of five independent
American nations: Mohawk, Onondaga, Seneca, Oneida, and Cayuga (the
Tuscarora nation is added around 1715 to the confederacy). It established a
democratic government with rights and responsibilities of elected officials, a system
for the creation of laws and arbitration of disputes between nations, a religion with
a belief in a creator, laws governing birth, adoption, and death/funeral rights, rights
of foreign nations, and a process for declaring and conducting war. The Iroquois
Constitution becomes one of the influential documents in the creation of the U.S.
Constitution.

1500-1550
Conquistadors embark on expeditions to Meso- and South America,
which lead to the conquest of the Aztec and Inca civilizations.

The Spanish landed upon the shores of Meso-America in February of
the year 1519, in the area of Vera Cruz. By November of that year, the
Spanish fleet, commanded by Hernán Cortés , entered into
Tenochtitlan and simply arrested the Emperor of the Aztec,
Montezuma. Within the time span of two years, Cortez dismantled the
Aztec monarchy and gained control of all of Tenochtitlan, and many
of its surrounding territories.

In 1527, Francisco Pizarro entered into Peru, where, with his small
band of 175 men armed with an ineffective cannon, took over the
entire Incan Empire. Five years later, he advanced toward the
Empire’s capitol, Cajamarca, where they were confronted by
roughly 50,000 Incan warriors within the town square. The Inca did not
attack, rather, Pizarro asked the Inca’s leader, Atahualpa, to meet
with him and his bodyguards unarmed. Shortly after meeting with
Pizarro, Pizarro’s men slaughtered all of the Incas within the square of
Cajamarca. Atahualpa attempted to bargain with Pizarro for his life,
offering him a room filled with gold (roughly 17 feet by 22 feet by 9
feet), but shortly after Atahualpa showed Pizarro the room he was
murdered.

Hernán Cortès brought the Catholic Church to Mexico. His expedition included a friar,
Bartolome de Olmedo and a priest, Juan Diaz. Conversion of the Indians was part of
their mandate. In 1492, Pope Alexander VI had ordered that natives of the new lands
discovered by Columbus, be instructed in Catholicism for the “salvation of their souls.”
Cortès accepted this wholeheartedly and acted accordingly. At his first landfall in
Cozumel he persuaded the natives to break up their idols and erect crosses and a
shrine to the Virgin. He continued these efforts throughout the Conquest, oft times
after fierce battles. He was also punctilious about christening women given to the
Spaniards as slaves. It was forbidden for his men to have intercourse with any woman
until she had been baptized.

This same order from Pope Alexander
acknowledged that the natives had “souls”
and this become an issue between the
clergy and the establishment. However, the
same Papal went on to say that those who
rejected Christianity could suffer war,
punishment and slavery. Seemingly
contradictory orders. The conflict of interests
between Church and State began shortly
after the Conquistadors toppled the Aztec
Empire. The bone of contention was the
treatment of the natives. Between 1519 and
1524 when 12 Franciscan friars arrived in
Nueva España, the process of conversion of
natives was a simple baptism with no follow
up. It is highly unlikely that those
“converted” had any real comprehension
of Christianity. Thus, Spaniards settlers
claimed that the baptized Indians were not
true Christians, had returned to worshiping
their old Gods, and could be enslaved.
Indeed, for many years, the “Christianity” of
the Indians was a thin veneer barely
covering their old pagan beliefs.

The woman who history calls La
Malinche, baptized as Donna
Marina, not only served Cortès as
an interpreter and later, as his
mistress. She became a fervent
Christian, and according to
Bernal Diaz, worked hard to
convert her fellow Indians.
Actually, it was an effort to
destroy idols and set up crosses in
their place that caused the final
break between the Spaniards
and the Aztecs. Had the
Spaniards been less insistent on
the conversion of the Aztecs to
Christianity and the destruction
of their blood-thirsty idols, it is
possible that Cortès and
Moctezuma might have reached
an accommodation that would
have permitted the Aztec
monarch to continue to rule as a
vassal of the Spanish Emperor.

During the late 16th century, 200,000 Spaniards immigrated to the New World.
Quickly the landscape of Meso- and South America began to change, with
imported plants, large sugar plantations, vast estates, and imported animals
over-taking the native landscape. Bureaucracy and government also took hold
quickly in South America. The Spanish, interested only in personal wealth, seized
vast tracts of land. Called encomiendas, where the government granted
conquerors the right to employ groups of Indians, baptized or not. The
encomiendas, in truth were a form of legalized slavery. Relegated to practical
slave labor within sugar cane plantations and mining caves, the native
population of Peru declined from 1.3 million in 1570, to 600,000 in 1620. In Meso-
America the circumstances were no different.

The population of Indians went from 25.3 million in 1519, to a scant 1 million in
1605. Though forced labor played the largest part in the decimation of the
Incan and Aztec, disease is by no means minor within this time frame.
Widespread epidemics of small pox and other diseases were not uncommon,
and claimed the lives of millions. On the psychological front, historians and
psychologists have offered another reason for the decimation of the Incan and
Aztec populations, namely the Indians had lost the will to survive. With the
extreme and quick loss of culture, accompanied by the pressure of Christian
missionaries and laws preventing the practice of any form of native religion (if
they did there were strong repercussions even death), the Indians were, by all
means, slaves to the Spaniard immigrants.

The first to challenge the treatment
of the natives in Nueva España was
Bartolomé De Las Casas. He was
appointed Bishop of Chiapas in 1544.
Twenty-five years earlier he had
been expelled from Santo Domingo
for protesting the enslavement of
Indians. Back in Spain, he drafted
new laws that outlawed slavery in
the New World. These “New Laws,”
signed by the Spanish Emperor,
Charles V. in 1542, were ignored and
then suspended by those who
governed Nueva España. De Las
Casas headed for Chiapas, fully
committed to abolishing slavery.
Since the entire economy of the
colony was based on free native
labor, he failed. Ironically, he
suggested the importation of black
slaves from the Indies or from Africa
as a possible solution. It was the first
time that a representative of the
Church had challenged the secular
authority in Nueva España. It was not
to be the last.

The next Churchman to take up the cause of the Indians was Juan de Zumárraga,
appointed Archbishop of Mexico in 1527. Although more moderate in his views than
Las Casas, he soon came into conflict with the ruling body of Nueva España, an
Audiencia, really a Church Court, headed by Nuño de Guzmán. Called “Bloody
Guzmán” because of his brutal treatment of both Indians and Spaniard. With the aid
of Cortès, a friend of the Indians, and the approval of Don Quiroga and the new
Audiencia, Zumárraga established himself and the clergy as “Protector of the
Indians”. Bishops were now appointed and the Church began to exercise a
moderating influence on the Spanish landowners. Although they remained slaves,
Indians could now turn to the Church with their grievances. Schools for Indians were
founded, and now the true meaning of Christianity was made clear to those who
had converted. There can be little doubt that the firm grip of Catholicism on Mexico
can be traced back to the efforts of Archbishop Juan de Zumárraga.

Don Vasco de Quiroga, although a layman, had allied himself with Zumárraga. As
head of second Audiencia, his punishment of the members of the first Audiencia,
sent a message to the colonists. The Church, with government approval, would
monitor the treatment of Indians. When the Spanish landowners foiled efforts to force
them to grant Indians freedom, De Quiroga started to set up monasteries and
community centers in which Indian children could be educated. Manned by friars,
they gave instruction in Christianity plus arts and crafts.

The conquest of the Yucatan was undoubtedly the most prolonged and difficult
campaign attempted by the Spanish. The first unsuccessful attempt was led by
Francisco Montejo the elder. Following 13 years of failure, Montejo eventually (in
1540) entrusted the conquest of the Yucatan to his son, Francisco Montejo the
younger. Several more years of difficult campaigning followed and finally, in 1546,
most of the northern portion of the peninsula came under Spanish control. The city
of Merida was founded in 1542 and served as the capital of the region and the
base for further Spanish incursions to the south.

In 1562, Friar Diego de Landa of Yucatan discovered that some of the Indians who
had supposedly been converted to Christianity some 20 years before did, in fact,
worship their old "idols". He conducted an inquiry in the best traditions of the Spanish
Inquisition, torturing some 4500 Indians and causing the deaths of 158, burned 5000
"idols" and 27 hieroglyphic books. The Church was alarmed that Landa had
overstepped the boundaries of his authority, and recalled him to Spain to stand trial
before the Council of the Indies.

1628
Hugo Grotius, a Dutch jurist credited with the
birth of international law, speaks of the
brotherhood of humankind and the need to
treat all people fairly.

Grotius was a Dutch legal scholar, playwright
and poet. As a natural law philosopher, he is
generally credited as the originator of “natural
morality” and the “social contract” theory of
the State. His 1609 book promoted idea that
seas should be free for the innocent use and
mutual benefit of all—an idea disputed
subsequently disputed by some Mercantilists.
Grotius’s 1625 treatise is acknowledged as the
first in international law. More famously, Grotius
argued that “property” was only the outcome
of social consent, and thus had nothing
“inalienable” in it.

1628
The British Parliament refuses to approve new taxes until King Charles I signs the British Petition
of Right. The petition prohibits the monarch from arresting people on an arbitrary basis and
form house troops in private homes without owners’ consent. This was an important
document setting out the rights and liberties of the subject as opposed to the prerogatives of
the crown.

Charles engaged in a struggle for
power with the Parliament of England,
attempting to obtain royal revenue
while Parliament sought to curb his
Royal prerogative which Charles
believed was divinely ordained. Many
of his English subjects opposed his
actions, in particular his interference in
the English and Scottish Churches and
the levying of taxes without
parliamentary consent which grew to
be seen as those of a tyrannical
absolute monarch. He was beheaded
at Whitehall in 1649, an act which
shocked all of Europe.

1648
The Peace of Westphalia provides a basis for greater religious tolerance in the
international sphere and establishes national sovereignty. Until the treaty was
signed, no sovereign states existed in the modern sense. The Peace of Westphalia
refers to the pair of treaties (the Treaty of Münster and the Treaty of Osnabrück)
signed in October and May 1648 which ended both the Thirty Years’ War and the
Eighty Years’. They involved the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, the other
German princes, Spain, France, Sweden, and representatives from the Dutch
republic. The Treaty of the Pyrenees, signed in 1659, ending the war between
France and Spain, is also often considered part of the treaty.

The peace as a whole is often used by historians to mark the beginning of the modern era.
Each ruler would have the right to determine their state’s religion—thus, in law,
Protestantism and Catholicism were equal. The texts of the two treaties are largely identical
and deal with the internal affairs of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Peace of Westphalia continues to be of importance today, with many academics
asserting that the international system that exists today began at Westphalia. The concept
of each nation-state, regardless of size, as of equal legal value informed the founding of
the United Nations, where all member states have one vote in the General Assembly. In the
second half of the twentieth century, the democratic nation state as the pinnacle of
political evolution saw membership of the UN rise from 50 when it was founded to 192 at
the start of the 21st century. However, many new nations were artificial creations from the
colonial division of the world, reflecting the economic interests of the colonizers rather than
local cultural, ethnic, religious or other significant boundaries which serve as the foundation
of cohesive societies. Westphalia, however, saw an end to countries as the personal
possession of their monarchs and the beginning of respect for the territorial integrity of
other nations. It did not, however, see the end of imperial expansion, since the European
nations applied one rule to themselves and another to the peoples whom they
encountered beyond Europe, whose territory could simply be appropriated, partitioned
and exploited. Those who champion a more just sharing of the earth’s resources and some
form of global governance see the Westphalian nation-state as an obstacle; nations are
reluctant to act except from self-interest and are disinclined to relinquish power to any
external body, which is understood as undermining their sovereignty. In Europe, for
example, as the European Union evolves towards becoming a European government,
member states resist this on the grounds that their sovereignty is threatened.

1679
The Habeas Corpus Act in Britain gives anyone who is detained the right to a fair
trial within a certain amount of time.

Habeas corpus (ad subjiciendum) is Latin for “you may have the body” (subject
to examination). Although rarely used nowadays, it can theoretically be
demanded by anyone who believes they are unlawfully detained and it is issued
by a judge. It does not determine guilt or innocence, merely whether the person
is legally imprisoned. It may also be writ against a private individual detaining
another. If the charge is considered to be valid, the person must submit to trial but
if not, the person goes free. The Habeas Corpus Act passed by Parliament in 1679
guaranteed this right in law, although its origins go back much further, probably to
Anglo-Saxon times.

1690
John Locke writes about the notions of
natural rights of life, liberty and property in
his Two Treatises on Government. The work
served as one of the underpinnings for the
U.S. Constitution. In it Locke clearly explains
the need for limiting government. He also
illustrates the role property plays in
maintaining liberty. The most powerful
arguments Locke puts forward are delivered
in the second treatise. They are derived from
the idea that men are endowed with
natural rights. The rights enumerated in the
Declaration of Independence, “Life, Liberty
and the Pursuit of Happiness”, were for
Locke “Life, Liberty and Property.” For Locke
and for us, property is synonymous with the
pursuit of happiness and liberty is impossible
without property.

Locke argues that property naturally arises as a means for man to obtain his
sustenance. In his model, governments arose for “no other end but the
preservation of property.” Property is created by the expenditure of a man’s
labor, in modern parlance, one could say the individual expends his life’s
energy to acquire wealth. So in a sense the wealth created is roughly
equivalent to the life of the individual who has acquired it. Money then can be
seen as an inertial store of life’s energy.

Thus, the right to expend an individual’s store of wealth is intimately tied up with
liberty. For what is liberty if not the right to freely dispose of one’s time. The wag
who pointed out that “time is money” was more correct than he knew.

A government which seeks to extort money from its citizens beyond the purview
of its basic functions is then imposing upon the liberty of the people. This was the
primary reason the Founding Fathers of the United States embarked upon the
Revolutionary War. They understood that taxes imposed without the consent of
the governed were indeed a grave imposition upon their liberty and a
precedent that could not be brooked.

“Life, Liberty and Property”: all are, indeed, natural rights intertwined and
mutually dependent. The loss of any one means the effective loss of the other
two.

Part III:
From the American Revolution
to Napoleon

1776 CE
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between
June 11 and June 28, 1776, the
Declaration of Independence is at once
the nation’s most cherished symbol of
liberty and Jefferson’s most enduring
monument. Here, in exalted and
unforgettable phrases, Jefferson
expressed the convictions in the minds
and hearts of the American people.
The political philosophy of the
Declaration was not new; its ideals of
individual liberty had already been
expressed by John Locke and the
Continental philosophers. What
Jefferson did was to summarize this
philosophy in “self-evident truths” and
set forth a list of grievances against the
King in order to justify before the world
the breaking of ties between the
colonies and the mother country.

1780-1783 CE
An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery
passes the Pennsylvania Assembly. It is the
first of such legislation passed in America
although it freed few slaves immediately.
Pennsylvanians could no longer legally
import slaves, but they could buy and sell
those who had been registered.

In 1783, The Massachusetts Supreme Court
outlaws slavery in the state, citing the
state’s constitution that “all men are born
free and equal.”

Despite resistance to change, slavery
declined after the passage of the act. In
addition to emphasizing slavery’s
inconsistency with religious beliefs and
philosophical principles, opponents pointed
to its increasingly evident economic
impracticality.

1786
The Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom written by Thomas Jefferson passes the
Virginia House of Burgesses. The statute provides the basis for the separation of
church and state and promotes the freedom of the individual to practice any
religion.
Because religious belief, or non-belief, is such
an important part of every person’s life,
freedom of religion affects every individual.
Religious institutions that use government
power in support of themselves and force their
views on persons of other faiths, or of no faith,
undermine all our civil rights. Moreover, state
support of an established religion tends to
make the clergy unresponsive to their own
people, and leads to corruption within religion
itself. Erecting the “wall of separation
between church and state,” therefore, is
absolutely essential in a free society.

1787
The delegates of the Constitutional Convention
adopt the United States Constitution. Nine states
ratify the Constitution the following year. The
Constitution is the supreme law of the United
States and provides the framework for the
organization of the U.S. government and for the
relationship of the federal government to the
states, to citizens, and to all people within the
United States. The Constitution creates the three
branches of the national government: a
legislature, the bicameral Congress; an executive
branch led by the President; and a judicial
branch headed by the Supreme Court, and
specifies the powers and duties of each branch.
The Constitution reserves all unenumerated
powers to the respective states and the people,
thereby establishing the federal system of United
States.

The U.S. Constitution is the oldest written
constitution still in use by any nation in the world.

The Constitution has been amended 27
times; the first 10 amendments are known as
the Bill of Rights. It prohibits Congress from
making any law respecting an establishment
of religion or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof, guarantees free speech, free press,
free assembly and association and the right
to petition government for redress, forbids
infringement of “...the right of the people to
keep and bear Arms…”, and prohibits the
Federal government from depriving any
person of life, liberty or property, without due
process of law. In federal criminal cases, it
requires indictment by a grand jury for any
capital or “infamous crime”, guarantees a
speedy, public trial with an impartial jury
composed of members of the state or
judicial district in which the crime occurred,
and prohibits double jeopardy. In addition,
the Bill of Rights states that “the enumeration
in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not
be construed to deny or disparage others
retained by the people,” and reserves all
powers not specifically granted to the
federal government to the people or the
States.

1789
French Declaration of the Rights of Man and
of the Citizen is adopted, stating that “men
are born and remain free and equal in
rights.” The Declaration also states that
“every man is presumed innocent until he is
proven guilty” and asserts that the law “is an
expression of the general will.” Unlike the U.S.
Bill of Rights it is intended to be universal. It is
a fundamental document of the French
Revolution, defining the individual and
collective rights of all the estates of the realm
as universal. Influenced by the doctrine of
natural rights, the rights of Man are universal:
valid at all times and in every place,
pertaining to human nature itself. Although it
establishes fundamental rights for French
citizens and all men without exception, it
addresses neither the status of women nor
slavery; despite that, it is a precursor
document to international human rights
instruments.

1791
Olympe de Gouges writes the Declaration of the Rights of Women and
urges women to “join in all activities of men” and thus assert their
equality with men, directly challenging the inferiority presumed of
women by the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Her attempts to push
this idea lead to her being charged with treason during the rule of the
National Convention. She was quickly arrested, tried, and on November
3, 1793, executed by the guillotine.

I offer a foolproof way to elevate the soul
of women; it is to join them to all the
activities of man; if man persists in finding
this way impractical, let him share his
fortune with woman, not at his caprice,
but by the wisdom of laws. Prejudice falls,
morals are purified, and nature regains all
her rights. Add to this the marriage of
priests and the strengthening of the king
on his throne, and the French government
cannot fail.

1792
Mary Wollstonecraft publishes A Vindication of
the Rights of Woman, the first great feminist
treatise. Wollstonecraft preached that intellect
will always govern and attacked gender
oppression, pressing for equal educational
opportunities, and demanded “justice!” and
“rights to humanity” for all. She ridiculed
prevailing notions about women as helpless,
charming adornments in the household.
Society had bred “gentle domestic brutes.”
“Educated in slavish dependence and
enervated by luxury and sloth,” women were
too often nauseatingly sentimental and
foolish. A confined existence also produced
the sheer frustration that transformed these
angels of the household into tyrants over child
and servant. Education held the key to
achieving a sense of self-respect and a new
self-image that would enable women to put
their capacities to good use.

1798
The Alien and Sedition Acts in the United States limit the freedoms of
speech and of the press and constrict the rights of the foreign born.
Under the threat of war with France, Congress in 1798 passed four laws in
an effort to strengthen the Federal government. Known collectively as
the Alien and Sedition Acts, the legislation sponsored by the Federalists
was also intended to quell any political opposition from the Republicans,
led by Thomas Jefferson. The first of the laws was the Naturalization Act,
which required that aliens be residents for 14 years instead of five years
before they became eligible for U.S. citizenship. Congress then passed
the Alien Act, authorizing the President to deport aliens “dangerous to
the peace and safety of the United States” during peacetime. The third
law, the Alien Enemies Act, allowed the wartime arrest, imprisonment
and deportation of any alien subject to an enemy power. The last of the
laws, the Sedition Act, declared that any treasonable activity, including
the publication of “any false, scandalous and malicious writing,” was a
high misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment. By virtue of this
legislation 25 men, most of them editors of Republican newspapers,
were arrested and their newspapers forced to shut down.

In 1800, the Alien and Sedition Acts were allowed to expire. The expiration of the acts did
not end challenges to the First Amendment or the tendency on the part of some
Presidents to behave like monarchs, sometimes with the cooperation of Congress. The
Espionage Act of 1917 prohibited “false statements” that might “impede military success.”
During World War II, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and President Franklin Roosevelt wanted
to use sedition charges to suppress black newspapers, claiming they undermined the war
effort with reports of racial dissension and demands for civil rights.

It took Chief Justice Earl Warren's
Supreme Court on March 9, 1964, in
The New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, to
finally declare unconstitutional the
Sedition Act of the Adams
Administration. Though the act had
expired in 1800, the court’s action
buried that particular threat to free
speech once and for all—or so
people hoped. Writing for the
majority, Justice William Brennan held
that L.B. Sullivan, an Alabama official,
had not been libeled in a New York
Times ad that had been paid for by
civil rights proponents. Brennan
supported his arguments by citing
Jefferson.

1807
The U.S. Congress outlaws the importation of African slaves into
the United States. Nevertheless, some 250,000 slaves are imported
illegally between 1808 and 1860.

1806-15
The stage for the upheaval and dissatisfaction that gave rise to Mexican
independence was set by political and economic changes in Europe and its
American colonies of the late 18th and 19th centuries. The French revolution and
Napoleonic wars diverted attention of Spain from its colonies, leaving a vacuum
and increasing dissatisfaction and desire for local government. The forced
removal of Ferdinand VII from the Spanish throne and his replacement by Joseph
Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother presented opportunity for Mexican intelligentsia
to promote independence in the name of the legitimate Spanish king. From its
inception, the colonial government of New Spain was dominated by Spanish-
born Peninsulares or Guachapins, who held most leadership positions in the
church and government, in contrast to Mexican-born Criollos (Creoles) who were
the 10 to one majority. Neither Peninsulares or upper-class Criollos wanted to
involve the masses of native Indians and mestizos in government or moves for
local control. In 1808 the Peninsulares learned of Viceroy Jose de Iturrigaray’s
intent to form a junta with Creole factions, a move that he thought might make
him King of an independent Mexican kingdom. In an armed attack on the
palace, Peninsulares arrested Iturrigaray and replaced him with puppet Pedro
Garibay after which they carried out bloody reprisals against Criollos who were
suspected of disloyalty. Although reform movements paused, political and
economic instability in Europe continued as well as hardship and unrest in the
Americas.

One liberal organization that was forced underground was the Literary Club of Queretaro
which formed for intellectual discussion, but in practice became a planning organization
for revolution. Independence- and reform-oriented thinkers also began to consider enlisting
the native Indian, mestizo and lower-class masses in wresting control from the Peninsulares
and in armed independence movements. An active member of the group was Father
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a well-educated liberal priest who questioned policies of the
church including clerical celibacy, banning certain literature, infallibility of the pope and
the virgin birth of Christ. In Queretaro, Hidalgo met Capt. Ignacio Allende, a revolutionary
thinker in the Spanish army. In spring 1810, Allende and Hidalgo planned an uprising for
December of the year that leaked out to Spanish authorities and their arrest was ordered.

In September 1810, Father
Hidalgo was forced to
prematurely distribute the Grito
de Dolores to his parishioners and
nearby residents, which was an
appeal for social and economic
reform. With little organization
and no training, a mob of
thousands of primarily Indians
and mestizos overwhelmed royal
forces in Guanajuato and
proceeded to murder and loot
both Peninsulares, Criollos and
other “whites” in their path. The
force continued to Mexico City
and defeated royalist forces on
the outskirts, but did not enter
and occupy the city after which
the ragged revolutionary army
returned home. Hidalgo and his
Creole officers were later able to
assemble an army of 80,000 by
payment with looted Peninsulare
gold and assets.

The Spanish viceroy responded to the insurgency with a vengeance and in
January 1811 Hidalgo suffered a serious defeat outside Guadalajara where
rebel forces were routed at Calderon Bridge. Bloody retaliation followed by
mass executions of suspected rebel sympathizers by Spanish crown forces. In
1811, Hidalgo and associates were captured and executed in Chihuahua.

After Hidalgo’s death, mestizo parish priest
José Morelos was able to organize a
number of the independent chieftains
across Mexico, established a Congress
which created a declaration of rights and
independence from Spain under King
Ferdinand VII and a Constitution which
included abolition of slavery and equality of
classes. Father Morelos was captured and
tried by both military tribunals and the
Inquisition. He was defrocked/degraded
and executed in December 1815.

1814-1815
The Congress of Vienna is held by the states that defeated
Napoleon (Austria, Great Britain, Russia, France, and Prussia).
International concern for human rights is demonstrated for the
first time in modern history. Freedom of religion is proclaimed, civil
and political rights discussed, and the slave trade is condemned.
Its objective was to settle the many issues arising from the French
Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, and the dissolution of
the Holy Roman Empire. This objective resulted in the redrawing
of the continent’s political map, establishing the boundaries of
France, Napoleon’s duchy of Warsaw, the Netherlands, the
states of the Rhine, the German province of Saxony, and various
Italian territories, and the creation of spheres of influence through
which France, Austria, Russia and Britain brokered local and
regional problems. The Congress of Vienna was a model for the
League of Nations and United Nations due to its goal to constitute
peace by all parties.

Part IV:
From the Indian Removal Act
to the U.S. Sedition Act

1830
The U.S. Congress passes the Indian Removal Act in order to free land for
settlement. The Act forces 70,000 Native Americans to relocate. The long trek
westward became known as the “Trail of Tears” because of the high death rate
during the relocation.

Early in the 19th century, while the rapidly-growing United States expanded into
the lower South, white settlers faced what they considered an obstacle. This area
was home to the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chicasaw, and Seminole nations.
These Indian nations, in the view of the settlers and many other white Americans,
were standing in the way of progress. Eager for land to raise cotton, the settlers
pressured the federal government to acquire Indian territory.

By 1837, more than 46,000
Native American people had
been removed from their land
east of the Mississippi. Most
members of the five
southeastern nations had been
relocated west, opening 25
million acres of land to white
settlement and to slavery.

1833/1841
The British Parliament passes
the Slavery Abolition Act. This
act gave all slaves in the British
Empire their freedom. The
British government paid
compensation to the slave
owners. The amount that the
plantation owners received
depended on the number of
slaves that they had.

In 1841, Russia, France, Prussia,
Austria and Great Britain sign
the Treaty of London, which
abolishes slavery.

1836
The debate over Texas was at the heart
of the U.S.-Mexican dispute which
would develop into the Mexican-
American War. Seeing the trend of U.S.
settlers immigrating to Texas, Mexican
president Antonio Lopez de Santa
Anna attempted to bring U.S.
immigration to a halt. He abolished
slavery and enforced customs duties
on the settlers as deterrence. In
response, the settlers revolted. As a
result of Mexico’s actions, the Texans,
under the command of General Sam
Houston, officially declared their
independence from Mexico on March
2, 1836, organizing a temporary
government.

1845-1848
The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) marked the first U.S. armed conflict chiefly
fought on foreign soil. It pitted a politically divided and militarily unprepared
Mexico against the expansionist-minded administration of U.S. President James K.
Polk, who believed the United States had a “manifest destiny” to spread across the
continent to the Pacific Ocean. A border skirmish along the Rio Grande started off
the fighting and was followed by a series of U.S. victories. When the dust cleared,
Mexico had lost about one-third of its territory, including nearly all of present-day
California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.

Expansion westward seemed perfectly natural to many Americans in the mid-
nineteenth century. Like the Massachusetts Puritans who hoped to build a "city
upon a hill, "courageous pioneers believed that America had a divine obligation
to stretch the boundaries of their noble republic to the Pacific Ocean.
Independence had been won in the Revolution and reaffirmed in the War of 1812.
The spirit of nationalism that swept the nation in the next two decades demanded
more territory. Now, with territory up to the Mississippi River claimed and settled
and the Louisiana Purchase explored, Americans headed west in droves.
Newspaper editor John O’Sullivan coined the term ”manifest destiny" in 1845 to
describe the essence of this mindset.

Expanding the boundaries of the United States was in many ways a cultural war
as well. The desire of southerners to find more lands suitable for cotton
cultivation would eventually spread slavery to these regions. North of the
Mason-Dixon line, many citizens were deeply concerned about adding any
more slave states. Manifest destiny touched on issues of religion, money, race,
patriotism, and morality. These clashed in the 1840s as a truly great drama of
regional conflict began to unfold.

Mexico and the United States went to war over a vast amount of terrain
— what would amount to half of Mexico when it was all over, beginning
of course, with Texas, which the United States annexed 1845. The U.S.
interest in expansion was very obvious. Texas was wanted simply for its
fine agricultural production, cotton in particular, which turned out to be
the major commodity. California was the real goal in the far west — to
have harbors on the Pacific and make the U.S. a continental empire.
New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah and Nevada, all of which
belonged to Mexico as well, were not of much interest, but those
territories needed to be conquered in order to connect the Atlantic to
the Pacific by railroad. From the point of view of Mexico, these lands
were not of any great value, but they belonged to Mexico and had
potential value in the future. They were not of immediate economic
value, but Mexicans knew full well that Texas was a wonderful place for
agriculture. The reports that came back suggested that Texas and
California were potentially very rich provinces

At that time, only about 75,000 Mexican citizens lived north of the Rio Grande. As
a result, U.S. were able to conquer those lands with minimal resistance.

With the losses adding up, Mexico turned to old standby General Antonio López
de Santa Anna, the charismatic strongman who had been living in exile in Cuba.
Santa Anna convinced Polk that, if allowed to return to Mexico, he would end the
war on terms favorable to the United States. But when he arrived, he immediately
double-crossed Polk by taking control of the Mexican army and leading it into
battle. At the Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847, Santa Anna suffered heavy
casualties and was forced to withdraw. Despite the loss, he assumed the Mexican
presidency the following month.

The villain of Texan history, Santa
Anna's prosthetic cork leg, was
taken as a war trophy and is
now on display at the Illinois
State Military Museum in
Springfield, Illinois.

Meanwhile, U.S. troops led by Gen. Winfield Scott landed in Veracruz and took over the
city. They then began marching toward Mexico City, essentially following the same
route that Hernán Cortés followed when he invaded the Aztec empire. The Mexicans
resisted at Cerro Gordo and elsewhere, but were bested each time. In September
1847, Scott successfully laid siege to Mexico City’s Chapultepec Castle. During that
clash, a group of military school cadets–the so-called niños héroes — purportedly
committed suicide rather than surrender.

1839-1842
The Chinese government begins to prosecute Chinese drug dealers of opium and
orders foreign merchants to respect the Chinese ban on opium. British merchants
in China refuse and are expelled from the country and war subsequently breaks
out. Using troops from India and their control of the sea, Great Britain forces China
to surrender. In the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842 the Chinese government is forced to
cede Hong Kong to Great Britain forever, pay an indemnity of $100 million, and
open up four large cities to foreign trade with low tariffs.

Background: The Opium War

Despite strict government regulations, foreign trade in China expanded during the
late 18th century and early 19th century. As trade grew, the West found themselves
to have a large and rising trade deficit with China. They were increasingly anxious
to balance their trade. Yet the Chinese, having a self-sufficient economy, showed
little interest in Western products. Finally, in 1820, the West found a product which
China did not have, opium. Between 1829 and 1855, opium smuggling developed
rapidly along China’s South Coast.

In the 1830s, opium had became a vice in China. Virtually all men under 40
smoked opium. The entire army was addicted. It affected all classes of people,
from rich merchants to Taoists. The total number of addicts in China in the 1830s
was as high as 12 million. Due to the smuggle of opium, the trade deficit Western
countries had with China quickly turned into a trade surplus. China could not
export enough tea and silk to balance the trade. Instead the difference in trade
was made up by the export of Chinese silver, which was highly valued for its fine
qualities. In 1839, the Chinese opium smokers spent 100 million taels, while the
government’s entire annual revenue was only 40 million taels. The drain of silver
greatly weakened the Chinese government. One government official wrote, “If we
continue to allow this trade to flourish, in a few dozen years, we will find ourselves
not only with no soldiers to resist the enemy, but also with no money to equip the
army.”

Faced with this problem, the Chinese government opened a debate
among Manchus and senior officials. The debate lasted for two years, and
in the end a minority group which favored an uncompromising stand
prevailed. In 1839, the emperor issued 39 articles which imposed
extremely severe punishments, including death, for smoking and trading
opium. Special Commissioner Lin Ze-xu was sent to Canton to ensure the
rules were carried out. Lin, while in Canton, made 1,600 arrests and
confiscated 11,000 pounds of opium in two months. In June, Lin forced
foreign merchants to hand over 20,000 chests of opium. He burned the
opium in a public demonstration and scattered the ashes across the sea.
When Lin gave the order that Canton should be completely closed to
foreign trade, the British opened hostilities and started the Opium War.

China, with its backward army, was overwhelmed and backed down.
Commissioner Lin was recalled in disgrace and sent to exile in the
Northwest. The first of the unequal treaties, the Treaty of Nanjing was
signed. The Opium War, which lasted from 1840 to 1842, ended with China
losing in shame.

China before the Opium War was closed to the West. Foreign trade was strictly
controlled by the government. The Chinese had a false sense of superiority,
believed that they had nothing to gain by trading with the “barbarians”. After
China’s defeat in the Opium War, it was forced open. Moreover the weaknesses of
China’s political and social system were exposed and the sense of superiority was
shattered. The Manchu government could no longer represent and protect the
Chinese people. The Treaty of Nanjing opened Chinese ports and markets to
Western merchants, caused the inflow of cheap Western machine-made products
and collapsed the Chinese economy. However, the remaining businesses adapted
and evolved to survive, this stimulated the development of Chinese capitalism. As
the Chinese economy collapsed, unemployment skyrocketed. Coupled by poverty
and government’s inability to control the situation, riots, social insurrection and
chaos spread over the country. The Opium War caused Chinese officials and
intellectuals to realize that in order for China to catch up, they must learn from the
West. Consequently officials madly imported Western technologies and industries,
while intellectuals proposed a parliamentary government.

The Opium War forcefully and suddenly opened China to the world. The
consequences of such abrupt exposure were deep and long lasting.

1848
Over 300 women and men meet at the Seneca Falls Convention, in New York, to
protest the mistreatment of women in social, economic, political, and religious life,
and to draft a “bill of rights” outlining the social, civil and religious rights of women.

This first women’s rights
convention in America was
spearheaded by Elizabeth
Cady Stanton and Lucretia
Mott. The Declaration of
Sentiments and Resolutions
issued by the Convention,
which was modeled after the
Declaration of Independence,
detailed the “injuries and
usurpations” that men had
inflicted upon women and
demanded that women be
granted all of the rights and
privileges that men possessed,
including the right to vote.

1853-1854
After several unsuccessful American attempts to
establish commercial relations with Japan,
Commodore Matthew Perry arrives in Edo Bay
and forces the Japanese to sign a treaty with
the United States that opened two ports to
American trade. Commodore Matthew C. Perry,
commander of the United States naval forces in
the China seas, was a staunch expansionist. In
1852 he warned President Fillmore that the
British, who had already taken control of Hong
Kong and Singapore, would soon control all
trade in the area. Perry recommended that the
United States take “active measures to secure a
number of ports of refuge” in Japan. President
Fillmore agreed with Perry. In 1853 he ordered
the Commodore to open negotiations with the
Emperor of Japan.

1857
In Dred Scott v. Sandford, the U.S. Supreme
Court rules that African Americans, slaves as
well as freemen, cannot be citizens and are
not entitled to the rights afforded to white
men.

Dred Scott was a slave who had lived in the
free state of Illinois and the free territory of
Wisconsin before moving back to the slave
state of Missouri, had appealed to the
Supreme Court in hopes of being granted his
freedom. In effect, the Court ruled that slaves
had no claim to freedom. They were property
and not citizens, and could not bring suit in
federal court. Because slaves were private
property, the federal government could not
revoke a white slave owner’s right to own a
slave based on where he lived.

1861
Tsar Alexander II issues the Edict of Emancipation, which frees the serfs in Russia.
The Crimean War made the Alexander realize that Russia was no longer a great
military power. His advisers argued that Russia's serf-based economy could no
longer compete with industrialized nations such as Britain and France. The nobility
objected to this move but as Alexander told a group of Moscow nobles: “It is
better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for the time when it will begin
to abolish itself from below.”
The Emancipation Manifesto
proposed 17 legislative acts that
would free the serfs: personal
serfdom would be abolished and all
peasants would be able to buy land
from their landlords. The State would
advance the the money to the
landlords and would recover it from
the peasants in 49 annual sums
known as redemption payments.

1863
During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issues the
Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that “all persons held as slaves
within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall
be in rebellion against the United States are forever free.”

The Proclamation provided the legal
framework for the emancipation of
nearly all four million slaves as the
Union armies advanced, and
committed the Union to ending
slavery, which was a controversial
decision even in the North. Hearing of
the Proclamation, more slaves quickly
escaped to Union lines as the Army
units moved South. As the Union
armies advanced through the
Confederacy, thousands of slaves
were freed each day until nearly all
were freed by July 1865.

1863
Henry Dunant founds the International Committee of the Red Cross a private
humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. Up until the middle of the 19th
century, there were no organized and well-established army nursing systems for
casualties, and no safe and protected institutions to accommodate and treat those
who were wounded on the battlefield. In June 1859, the Swiss businessman Henry
Dunant travelled to Italy to meet French emperor Napoléon III with the intention of
discussing difficulties in conducting business in Algeria, at that time occupied by France.

When he arrived in the small town of Solferino, he
witnessed the Battle of Solferino, an engagement in the
Austro-Sardinian War. In a single day, about 40,000
soldiers on both sides died or were left wounded on the
field. Shocked by the terrible aftermath of the battle, the
suffering of the wounded soldiers, and the near-total lack
of medical attendance and basic care, Dunant
completely abandoned the original intent of his trip and
devoted himself to helping with the treatment and care
for the wounded. He succeeded in organizing an
overwhelming level of relief assistance by motivating the
local population to aid without discrimination.

1864
The Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Armies in the Field (First
Geneva Convention) is signed, outlining the rules for protecting the wounded in
wartime and grants immunity to hospital staff and the Red Cross during war. The
1864 Geneva Convention laid the foundations for the contemporary
humanitarian law. It was in a whole characterized by:
•  standing written rules of universal scope to protect the victims of conflicts;
•  its multilateral nature, open to all States; the obligation to extend care without
discrimination to wounded and sick military personnel;
•  respect for and marking of medical personnel, transports and equipment using
an emblem (red on a white background).

1865-1870
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishes
slavery in the United States.

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 passes with one vote over
President Andrew Johnson’s veto. The Act proclaims that
all persons born in the United States are U.S. citizens
without regard to race or color.

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1868)
declares that no state shall “deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny
to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of
the law.”

The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that
“the right of citizens of the United State to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by any State
on account of race, color, or previous conditions of
servitude.”

1884-85
In 1884 at the request of Portugal, German Chancellor Otto von Bismark called
together the major western powers of the world to negotiate questions and end
confusion over the control of Africa. Bismark took the opportunity to expand
Germany’s sphere of influence over Africa and desired to force Germany’s rivals to
struggle with one another for territory.

At the time of the Berlin Conference to Divide Africa, 80 percent of Africa remained
under traditional and local control. What ultimately resulted was a hodgepodge of
geometric boundaries that divided Africa into 50 irregular countries. This new map of
the continent was superimposed over the 1,000 indigenous cultures and regions of
Africa. The new countries lacked rhyme or reason and divided coherent groups of
people and merged together disparate groups who really did not get along.

Fourteen countries were represented by a plethora of ambassadors when the
conference opened in Berlin on November 15, 1884. The countries represented at the
time included Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain,
Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden-Norway (unified from
1814-1905), Turkey, and the United States of America. Of these 14 nations, France,
Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal were the major players in the conference,
controlling most of colonial Africa at the time.

The initial task of the conference was to agree that the Congo River and Niger River
mouths and basins would be considered neutral and open to trade. Despite its
neutrality, part of the Congo Basin became a personal kingdom for Belgium’s King
Leopold II and under his rule, over half of the region’s population died.

At the time of the conference, only the coastal areas of Africa were colonized by the
European powers. At the Berlin Conference the European colonial powers scrambled
to gain control over the interior of the continent. The conference lasted until February
26, 1885—a three month period where colonial powers haggled over geometric
boundaries in the interior of the continent, disregarding the cultural and linguistic
boundaries already established by the indigenous African population.

Following the conference, the give and take continued. By 1914, the conference
participants had fully divided Africa among themselves into 50 countries.

The Berlin Conference was Africa’s undoing in more ways than one. The colonial
powers superimposed their domains on the African continent. By the time
independence returned to Africa in 1950, the realm had acquired a legacy of
political fragmentation that could neither be eliminated nor made to operate
satisfactorily.

Major colonial holdings included:

•  Great Britain desired a Cape-to-Cairo collection of colonies and almost
succeeded though their control of Egypt, Sudan (Anglo-Egyptian Sudan),
Uganda, Kenya (British East Africa), South Africa, and Zambia, Zimbabwe
(Rhodesia), and Botswana. The British also controlled Nigeria and Ghana (Gold
Coast).
•  France took much of western Africa, from Mauritania to Chad (French West
Africa) and Gabon and the Republic of Congo (French Equatorial Africa).
•  Belgium and King Leopold II controlled the Democratic Republic of Congo
(Belgian Congo).
•  Portugal took Mozambique in the east and Angola in the west.
•  Italy’s holdings were Somalia (Italian Somaliland) and a portion of Ethiopia.
•  Germany took Namibia (German Southwest Africa) and Tanzania (German
East Africa).
•  Spain claimed the smallest territory—Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni).

Late 19 th Century
Mass Mexican migration to the United States began in the last two decades of the
19th century as a consequence of the confluence of several factors. Within Mexico,
the economic modernization policies of the dictator Porfirio Díaz, (1876-1910),
resulted in dramatic increases in foreign investment, rapid industrialization, expansion
of the mining industry, and the rise of a plantation-based agro-export sector in the
countryside, featuring especially the cultivation of sugar, coffee, henequen, and
cotton. The rise of this agro-export sector was achieved in large measure through the
expropriation of communally-held lands known as ejidos, whose production was
directed towards community subsistence and sale on the domestic market. These
lands were transferred to Mexican hacendados and foreign investors in a move that
proved disastrous for small-scale farmers.

The second factor promoting emigration from rural areas in the Mexican interior
towards the north was also an outcome of Diaz’ development policies: the
construction of rail lines that linked Mexico City and Western Central Mexico to the
northern border with the United States. By 1890, virtually all of Mexico’s principal
population and production centers were connected to markets in all 48 contiguous
U.S. states and territories. The completion of these rail lines provided displaced rural
Mexicans with the means to travel long distances northward from their homes in the
interior towards industrial growth poles in northern Mexico and beyond, into the
United States.

Porfirio Diaz Francisco Madero

1910
The Mexican Revolution lasted for 10 years and was brought on by,
among other factors, tremendous disagreement among the Mexican
people over the dictatorship of President Porfirio Díaz, who, all told,
stayed in office for 31 years. During that span, power was
concentrated in the hands of a select few; the people had no
power to express their opinions or select their public officials. Wealth
was likewise concentrated in the hands of the few, and injustice was
everywhere.

Early in the 20th Century, a new generation of young leaders arose
who wanted to participate in the political life of their country, but
they were denied the opportunity by the officials who were already
entrenched in power and who were not about to give it up. This
group of young leaders believed that they could assume their proper
role in Mexican politics once President Díaz announced publicly that
Mexico was ready for democracy. Although the Mexican
Constitution called for public election and other institutions of
democracy, Díaz and his supporters used their political and
economic resources to stay in power indefinitely.

1917
The Mexican Constitution of 1917, proclaimed on February 5, 1917, is
considered by many to be one of the most radical and comprehensive
constitutions in modern political history. Although its social content gave it
the title of the first modern socialist constitution —- it preceded the
constitution of the former Soviet Union — the Mexican document
replicates many liberal principles and concepts of the constitution of the
United States. The liberal concepts include federalism, separation of
powers, and a bill of rights. In addition to reaffirming the liberal principles
of the 19th-century documents, the 1917 constitution adds a strong
nationalist proclamation, asserting Mexico’s control over its natural
resources. It also recognizes social and labor rights, separation of church
and state, and universal male suffrage. Reflecting the varied social
backgrounds and political philosophies of its framers, the constitution of
1917 includes various contradictory provisions, endorsing within the same
text socialism, capitalism, liberal democracy, authoritarian corporatism,
and a host of unimplemented provisions for specific social reforms.

Formally, the constitution prescribes
a federal republic consisting of 31
states and a federal district. The
federal government is divided into
executive, legislative, and judicial
branches, but these branches do not
have comparable powers. Only the
president may promulgate a law, by
signing it and ordering its publication.
The executive can veto bills passed
by the legislature, either in whole or
by item, and although a veto may
be overridden, there is no
constitutional way in which the
president may be forced to sign a bill
into law. In addition, executive-
sponsored bills submitted to the
Congress take precedence over
other business, and the constitution
gives the president broad authority
to issue basic rules (reglamentos ).
Reglamentos have the same legal
force as laws and are the source of
most statutory regulations.

The constitution treats many matters of public policy explicitly: Before being
amended in 1992, Article 27 placed stringent restrictions on the ownership of
property by foreigners and the Roman Catholic Church and declared national
ownership of the country’s natural resources. Religious groups were excluded from
any kind of political activity and were not allowed to participate in public
education, conduct services outside churches, or wear clerical dress in public. In its
original form, Article 27 also granted the government broad powers to expropriate
private property in the public interest and to redistribute land.

The constitution prescribes an activist state that will ensure national autonomy and
social justice. Thus, in addition to a charter of individual rights, the constitution
provides for a number of social rights for workers and peasants and their
organizations. In Article 123, the constitution provides what has been described as
“the most advanced labor code in the world at its time.” It guarantees the right to
organize, as well as an eight-hour workday, and provides for the protection of
women and minors in the workplace. It mandates that the minimum wage “should
be sufficient to satisfy the normal necessities of life of the worker,” and establishes
the principle of equal pay for equal work regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity. In
addition, Article 123 clarifies the right to strike. Strikes are legal when their purpose
is to “establish equilibrium between the diverse factors of production, harmonizing
the rights of labor with those of capital.” The article further establishes arbitration
and conciliation boards made up of equal numbers of management, labor
representatives, and one government representative. Although many of these
provisions were not implemented until 1931, Article 123 mandates the
incorporation of organized labor into the formal political process and serves as a
basis for labor's claim to a preeminent status in national politics.

1914-1918
On 4th August, 1914, Britain declares war on Germany. Two days later the National
Union of Suffrage Societies announced that it was suspending all political activity
until the war was over and the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSOU) began
negotiating with the British government, which led to the release of all suffragettes
from prison. In return, the WSPU agreed to end their militant activities and help the
war effort. WWI ironically meant progress for women’s rights.

As men left jobs to fight overseas, they were replaced by women, who also filled
many jobs brought into existence by wartime needs. As a result the number of
women employed increased from 3,224,600 in July, 1914 to 4,814,600 in January
1918. Nearly 200,000 women were employed in government departments. Half a
million became clerical workers in private offices. Women worked as conductors on
trams and buses. A quarter of a million worked on the land. The greatest increase
of women workers was in engineering. Over 700,000 of these women worked in the
highly dangerous munitions industry. Industries that had previously excluded
women now welcomed them. There was a particular demand for women to do
heavy work such as unloading coal, stoking furnaces and building ships.

During World War I, there were atrocities committed on both sides.

•  The Allies accused the Germans of committing atrocities, or terrible
crimes, against Belgium, a neutral nation. The British government
issued a report investigating the situation. It was later shown to
have overstated many of the claims. Still, the Germans admitted to
using harsh measures in achieving their goals. An estimated 5,500
Belgians were killed. Many towns and buildings were destroyed or
plundered. Charges of German atrocities were used as
propaganda in neutral countries.

•  Many Allies also pointed to other examples of Germany’s
inhumane tactics. These included the use of poison gas and the
sinking of passenger ships such as the American Lusitania. Yet the
Allies themselves soon started using poison gas. The Lusitania was
carrying weapons as well as passengers.

•  The Allies blocked trade with Germany for five years. This blockade
caused great suffering for the German people. German
government records show that 763,000 people starved to death as
a result of this Allied action.

None of those is as horrific as what happened in Turkey.

The Armenians were an ethnic minority of about 2.5 million in the
Ottoman Empire ruled by Turkey. As Christians in a mainly Muslim land,
they were also a religious minority. They had long been denied basic
rights and wanted to be independent. When war broke out, they
pledged to support the Allies, the enemies of the Turks.

Just before the war began, a group of extreme nationalists took over the
Turkish government. They vowed to create a Turkish-only state. On April
24, 1915, the government began forcing Armenians from their homes.
Some Armenians were killed outright. Many others, sent on forced
marches to the Syrian Desert, died of starvation or disease. Virtually all
who survived were left homeless. The persecution continued from 1915 to
1918 and arose again from 1920 to 1923. At least 600,000 Armenians died
between 1915 and 1916 alone.

The Ottoman Empire carried out the first genocide of the 20th century on
the Armenian population in the empire (1915-17). Hundreds of thousands
of Armenians were tortured and executed and millions of others were
forced from their homes and marched across deserts to resettlement
areas. It is estimated that one and a half million Armenians died during
the genocide.

Many foreigners in the Ottoman Empire witnessed this destruction of the
Armenian population. They told the outside world of the horrors they had
seen. The international community officially condemned the genocide,
yet they made no forceful effort to save the Armenians.

The Republic of Turkey, the successor state of the Ottoman Empire,
denies the word “genocide” is an accurate description of the events. In
recent years, it has faced repeated calls to accept the events as
genocide. To date, 20 countries have officially recognized the events of
the period as genocide, and most genocide scholars and historians
accept this view.

1917
On February 4, 1917, the United States Congress passed the Immigration Act of
1917 (also known as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act) with an overwhelming majority,
overriding President Woodrow Wilson's December 14, 1916 veto. This act added to
the number of undesirables banned from entering the country, including but not
limited to “idiots”, “feeble-minded persons”, "criminals", “epileptics”, “insane
persons”, alcoholics, “professional beggars”, all persons “mentally or physically
defective”, polygamists, and anarchists. Furthermore, it barred all immigrants over
the age of 16 who were illiterate. The most controversial part of the law was the
section that designated an “Asiatic Barred Zone”, a region that included much of
eastern Asia and the Pacific Islands from which people could not immigrate.
Previously, only the Chinese had been excluded from admission to the country.

In 1882, the U.S. Congress had
passed the Chinese Exclusion Act,
which prohibited citizenship for
Chinese immigrants.

1918
The Australian Parliament passes the Aboriginal Ordinance ushering in the “protectionist era”
which strips the aboriginal populations of many of their basic rights. When the Northern
Territory was handed over from South Australia to the Commonwealth, Federal parliament
initiated legislation to govern the Aboriginal people who lived there. Under the Ordinance, all
legislation enacted under the South Australian government’s period of control remained in
force. A Chief Protector was employed to administer the Ordinance. They were accorded
the following powers:
•  legal guardian of all Aboriginal and half caste children until 18 years of age;
•  to keep any Aboriginal or half caste person within the boundaries of a reserve;
•  to forbid marriage between Aboriginal women and non-Aboriginal men, unless
permission was granted;
•  to restrict the removal of Aboriginals from one district to another.

A number of people criticized the Federal policy. For many it did not allow enough authority
to the Commonwealth, especially in regard to restricting the relations between Aboriginal
and Asian Australians.

1918
The U.S. Congress passes the U.S. Sedition Act, actually a set of amendments to the
Espionage Act, which outlaws “any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about
the form of government of the United States, or Constitution of the United States.” The
Espionage Act made it a crime to aid enemies of the United States or to interfere with the
war effort or with military recruitment. The Sedition Act extended its provisions to cover a
broader range of offenses, notably speech and the expression of opinion that cast the
government or the war effort in a negative light or interfered with the sale of government
bonds. One historian of American civil liberties has called it “the nation’s most extreme
antispeech legislation.” Those convicted under the act generally received sentences of
imprisonment for 10 to 20 years.

Part V:
From the Treaty of Versailles to
the Formation of
the United Nations

1919
At the end of the Great War (World War I), the
Treaty of Versailles requires that Kaiser Wilhelm II
be placed on trial for a “supreme offense against
international morality and the sanctity of treaties.”
Kaiser Wilhelm seeks exile in Holland, which refuses
demands to extradite him. Regardless, for the first
time in history, nations seriously considered
imposing criminal penalties on heads of state for
violations of fundamental human rights. Of the
many provisions in the treaty, one of the most
important and controversial required Germany to
accept sole responsibility for causing the war and,
under the terms of articles 231–248 (later known as
the War Guilt clauses), to disarm, make substantial
territorial concessions, and pay reparations to
certain countries that had formed the Entente
powers.

During the Paris Peace Conference other treaties stress
minorities’ rights, including the right of life, liberty,
freedom of religion, right to nationality of state of
residence, complete equality with other nationals of
the same state, and the exercise of civil and political
rights.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is
established to advocate for human rights represented
in labor law, encompassing concerns such as
employment discrimination, forced labor and worker
safety.

The Pan-African Congress meets and petitions the Paris
Peace Conference that Africans take part in governing
their land “as fast as their development permits” until
African colonies are granted home rule.

The Women’s International League for Peace and
Freedom is established.

The League of Nations Covenant is signed
as part of the Treaty of Versailles. Precursor
to the United Nations, the mission of the
League is “to promote international
cooperation and to achieve international
peace and security.” For the first time in
history, collective security is introduced on
an international scale. The diplomatic
philosophy behind the League
represented a fundamental shift in
thought from the preceding hundred
years. The League lacked its own armed
force and so depended on the Great
Powers to enforce its resolutions, keep to
economic sanctions which the League
ordered, or provide an army, when
needed, for the League to use. However,
they were often reluctant to do so.

1920
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants women the right to vote.

1921
The U.S. Congress passes the Snyder Act, which
grants all Native Americans born in the United
States full U.S. citizenship. Although, some white
citizen groups were supportive of Indian
citizenship, Indians themselves were mixed in the
debate. Those that supported it considered the
Act a way to secure a long-standing political
identity. Those that rejected it were worried
about tribal sovereignty and citizenship. Many
leaders in the Native American community at
the time, like Charles Santee, a Santee Sioux,
were interested in Native American integration
into the larger society, but adamant about
preserving the Native American identity. Many
were also reluctant to trust the government that
had taken their land and discriminated so
violently against them.

1922
The International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH), composed of 20
(now 164) national human rights organizations, is established on the initiative of
French and German member organizations. It is the first international human rights
organization. Its motto is: “Peace for human rights.” FIDH’s mandate is to
contribute to the respect of all the rights defined in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. FIDH aims at obtaining effective improvements in the protection of
victims, the prevention of Human Rights violations and the sanction of their
perpetrators.

In 2006, FIDH took a public stand against
the execution of the former Iraqi dictator,
Saddam Hussein, and deplores the fact that
a historic opportunity to judge the crimes of
Saddam Hussein according to the principles
of a fair trial turned into a parody of justice.
In 2007, a complaint for torture and
maltreatment in Guantanamo and Abu
Ghraib was lodged against the former
American Secretary of State for Defense,
Donald Rumsfeld, in an attempt to combat
high-level impunity.

1924
The Immigration Act of 1924 passes in the U.S. Congress, barring
“aliens ineligible to citizenship,” effectively excluding Asians from
entry, and stipulating that only whites may be naturalized as U.S.
citizens.

The quota for immigrants entering the U.S. was set at 2 percent of the
total of any given nation’s residents in the U.S. as reported in the 1890
census; after July 1, 1927, the two percent rule was to be replaced by
an overall cap of 150,000 immigrants annually and quotas
determined by “national origins” as revealed in the 1920 census.
College students, professors and ministers were exempted from the
quotas. Initially immigration from the other Americas was allowed, but
measures were quickly developed to deny legal entry to Mexican
laborers.

The clear aim of this law was to restrict the entry of immigrants from
Southern and Eastern Europe, while welcoming relatively large
numbers of newcomers from Britain, Ireland, and Northern Europe.

A provision in the 1924 law barred entry to those ineligible for
citizenship—effectively ending the immigration of all Asians into the
United States and undermining the earlier “Gentlemen’s Agreement”
with Japan.

1926
In 1926, the International Slavery Convention is signed at Geneva under the auspices of the
League of Nations “to find a means of giving practical effect throughout the world to such
intentions.” It defined a slave as a “person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to
the right of ownership are exercised,” and undertook “to bring about, progressively and as
soon as possible, the complete abolition of slavery in all its forms.”

But this was never applied against the practice of forced labor in colonial Africa, for
example, requiring a village to provide men to work on roads and other public works. Under
all the colonial powers, forced labor of one kind or another remained in place into the 1940s,
and the imposition of taxes forced people into low-paid mining, industry or agribusiness jobs
when they might otherwise have remained farmers.

All colonial regimes abolished slavery by 1932. Yet even today
slavery is not unknown in Africa, particularly in countries such as the
Sudan where law and order are often absent.

Nor have the colonists ever really gone away. White-owned
businesses still dominate the mining of Africa’s most valuable natural
resources— particularly gold and diamonds—and in the eyes of
some the continent has never stopped being plundered.

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