The History of Human Rights.
The History of Human Rights November 30th, 2012 Brianna Kirk
The belief of basic and inalienable rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled to by virtue of his or her humanity lie within early traditions and documents of many cultures dating as far back as 539 BCE. The documents of these cultures include the Cyrus Cylinder, the
Hindu Vedas, the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, the Bible, the Quran and the Aztec Codes.
Documents such the Magna Carta (1215), the English Bill of Rights (1689), the French
Declaration on the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789), and the US Constitution and Bill of Rights (1791), each of which include certain individual rights, are basis to many of today’s human rights documents and laws. It was a long fight towards the rights we carry today, people throughout the world have drawn from the principles these documents express to support revolutions that assert the right to self-determination.
When humans first began settle and develop organized city states, there were no human rights. From Mesopotamia (Approx. 8000 BCE), through Ancient Egypt (Approx. 3150
BCE) all the way up to the Babylonian Empire (Approx. 1894 BCE). If you were born in the right family in the right crowd, you were safe, and if you weren’t, well then, you weren’t. These events happened for many centuries until a man named Cyrus (II), revolutionized the idea of human rights. Cyrus the Great was the first king of Persia. In 539 BCE, under his rule, the armies of Persia conquered Babylon. After defeating the city of Babylon, Cyrus did something that marked a major advance in history for mankind. He freed the slaves, established racial equality and declared that everyone had the right to choose their own religion.
The belief of basic and inalienable rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled to by virtue of his or her humanity lie within early traditions and documents of many cultures dating as far back as 539 BCE. The documents of these cultures include the Cyrus Cylinder, the
Hindu Vedas, the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, the Bible, the Quran and the Aztec Codes.
Documents such the Magna Carta (1215), the English Bill of Rights (1689), the French
Declaration on the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789), and the US Constitution and Bill of Rights (1791), each of which include certain individual rights, are basis to many of today’s human rights documents and laws. It was a long fight towards the rights we carry today, people throughout the world have drawn from the principles these documents express to support revolutions that assert the right to self-determination.
When humans first began settle and develop organized city states, there were no human rights. From Mesopotamia (Approx. 8000 BCE), through Ancient Egypt (Approx. 3150
BCE) all the way up to the Babylonian Empire (Approx. 1894 BCE). If you were born in the right family in the right crowd, you were safe, and if you weren’t, well then, you weren’t. These events happened for many centuries until a man named Cyrus (II), revolutionized the idea of human rights. Cyrus the Great was the first king of Persia. In 539 BCE, under his rule, the armies of Persia conquered Babylon. After defeating the city of Babylon, Cyrus did something that marked a major advance in history for mankind. He freed the slaves, established racial equality and declared that everyone had the right to choose their own religion.