Code of Hammurabi (c. 1754 BCE): Babylonian law code carved on a stone pillar
Cyrus Cylinder (539 BCE): Persian clay cylinder describing Cyrus's rule and respect for local customs
Twelve Tables (c. 450 BCE): Rome's first written laws, displayed in the Forum
Edicts of Ashoka (c. 250 BCE): Messages carved on pillars by the Maurya emperor about justice and compassion
Rosetta Stone (196 BCE): Decree in three scripts that helped decode hieroglyphs
Edict of Milan (313 CE): Roman proclamation of religious tolerance
Justinian Code (529-534): Byzantine collection of Roman laws that shaped later legal systems
Constitution of Medina (c. 622): Early agreement among communities in Medina
Domesday Book (1086): English survey of land and property ordered by William the Conqueror
Magna Carta (1215): English charter limiting the king's power and protecting rights
Golden Bull (1222): Hungarian charter limiting royal power, similar to Magna Carta
Gutenberg Bible (c. 1455): First major book printed in Europe with movable type
95 Theses (1517): Martin Luther's list of church criticisms
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494): Spain and Portugal divided new lands outside Europe
Mayflower Compact (1620): Agreement by Pilgrims to govern themselves fairly
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639): One of the first written constitutions in the colonies
Petition of Right (1628): English document limiting the king's power to tax and jail without cause
English Bill of Rights (1689): Guaranteed Parliament's powers and individual rights
Two Treatises of Government (1689): John Locke's work on natural rights and consent of the governed
Common Sense (1776): Thomas Paine's pamphlet arguing for independence
Declaration of Independence (1776): Announced the colonies' freedom and the ideas of equality and rights
Articles of Confederation (1781): First US government plan
Northwest Ordinance (1787): Set rules for new territories and banned slavery north of the Ohio
US Constitution (1787): Framework of the US government
Federalist Papers (1787-88): Essays defending the Constitution
Bill of Rights (1791): First ten amendments protecting individual rights
Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789): French statement of rights and equality under the law
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792): Mary Wollstonecraft's argument for women's education and equality
Washington's Farewell Address (1796): Warned about political division and foreign entanglements
Monroe Doctrine (1823): Warned Europe against new colonies in the Americas
Declaration of Sentiments (1848): Seneca Falls document calling for women's equality
Communist Manifesto (1848): Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels's pamphlet about class struggle
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848): Ended the Mexican-American War
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852): Novel that increased opposition to slavery
Emancipation Proclamation (1863): Lincoln's order freeing enslaved people in rebelling states
Gettysburg Address (1863): Lincoln's short speech about equality and 'government of the people'
13th Amendment (1865): Ended slavery in the United States
14th Amendment (1868): Citizenship and equal protection for all persons born in the US
15th Amendment (1870): Gave Black men the right to vote
19th Amendment (1920): Gave women the right to vote
Origin of Species (1859): Charles Darwin's book on evolution by natural selection
Balfour Declaration (1917): British letter supporting a Jewish homeland in Palestine
Fourteen Points (1918): Woodrow Wilson's plan for post-WWI peace
Treaty of Versailles (1919): Peace treaty ending WWI with Germany
Atlantic Charter (1941): Churchill and Roosevelt's statement of war aims
Four Freedoms (1941): FDR's speech on freedom of speech, worship, from want and from fear
UN Charter (1945): Founding document of the United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948): UN statement of rights for all people
Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Supreme Court decision against school segregation
Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963): Martin Luther King Jr.'s defense of nonviolent protest
I Have a Dream (1963): King's speech at the March on Washington
Civil Rights Act (1964): Outlawed segregation in public places and job discrimination
Voting Rights Act (1965): Protected voting rights for Black citizens
Americans with Disabilities Act (1990): Banned discrimination against people with disabilities
Silent Spring (1962): Rachel Carson's book that sparked the environmental movement
The Diary of a Young Girl: Anne Frank's diary, published in 1947
Wealth of Nations (1776): Adam Smith's book on markets and trade
Leviathan (1651): Thomas Hobbes's book on government and order
The Social Contract (1762): Rousseau's book on the general will
The Prince (1532): Machiavelli's guide to ruling, published after his death
Dead Sea Scrolls: Ancient manuscripts found in caves near the Dead Sea starting in 1947
Treaty of Paris (1783): Ended the American Revolution
Treaty of Westphalia (1648): Ended the Thirty Years' War
Great Law of Peace: Haudenosaunee constitution, some influence on early American ideas is debated
Cherokee Constitution (1827): Written constitution of the Cherokee Nation
Sequoyah's syllabary: Cherokee writing system created in the 1820s
Indian Citizenship Act (1924): Granted citizenship to Native Americans born in the US
Emancipation Manifesto (1861): Russian tsar Alexander II freed the serfs
Meiji Constitution (1889): Japan's first modern constitution
Constitution of India (1950): World's longest written national constitution
Magna Carta's clause 39: No free person to be punished without lawful judgment, a root of due process
Habeas corpus: Principle that you cannot be held without legal charges; strengthened by England's 1679 Act
Bill of Rights (1689) vs 1791: England's came first; the American one added rights to the US Constitution
Homestead Act (1862): Offered free land to settlers who farmed it
Pendleton Act (1883): Created merit-based jobs in the federal government
Sherman Antitrust Act (1890): Law against monopolies

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