Contribution to Democracy

Natalie Mora World History, Period: 2 Mrs. Rosado-Mejia September 27, 2012 Democracy has existed since long ago. Of course it took time to create it. Slowly, it began to form. Democracy is rule of the people, by the people. Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Christians all took part in molding today’s modern democracy. All these different cultures made an effect to democracy. For example, Greeks philosophy was equality to all, Romans contributed with The Twelve Tables, and the Judeo-Christians based their moral values from the bible. Greeks were among the first civilizations to contribute to democracy. Greek’s government was efficient for a while. For instance, Pericles helped develop direct democracy. He wanted all the citizens to come together to make laws. (notes). This example shows the great influence Greeks had on democracy. Because all the citizens could elect laws, therefore it was formed as democracy. Similarly, people had the right to trial with the jury. They were innocent till proven guilty.(notes.) This shows that the citizens of Greece were protect by this law. This law still exists today. Romans also were involved in helping form democracy. The Romans elected their officials. They didn’t want any one person to gain too much power. One good example would be that they develop the senate.(note) It helped maintain power under control. Since the plebians elected their representative (indirect democracy), they demanded to know the laws.(notes.) Romans later created the Twelve Tables so everyone could know the law. The Twelve Tables contributed to democracy because it was just. Judeo-Christians got their values from the bible. One important law of code was the Ten Commandments. (notes.) These laws focused more on morality and ethics than they did on politics. Nevertheless, it was still essential to the development to democracy. The Ten Commandments helped the Judeo-Christians