1776: COMMON SENSE (THOMAS PAINE) AND THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
1777: THOMAS JEFFERSON FIRST DRAFT OF THE VIRGINIA STATUE FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. WOULD LATER BE ENACTED BY THE STATE LEGISLATURE IN
1786.
1788: THE FEDERALIST PAPERS START TO BE PUBLISHED (WRITTEN BY SEVERAL OF AMERICA'S FOUNDING FATHERS).
1789: FRANCE'S THE RIGHT OF MAN AND OF THE (MALE) CITIZEN IS PUBLISHED.
1791: THE RIGHTS OF MAN (THOMAS PAINE) AND THE FRNECH DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND OF THE FEMALE
CITIZEN (OLYMPE DE GOURGES) ARE PUBLISHED. THE ORIGNAL U.S. BILL OF RIGHTS IS ALSO RATIFIED, ALBEIT IT HAD NO APPLICABILITY TO THE STATES UNTIL MUCH LATER.
1819: THOMAS JEFFERSON FORMS THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA TO TEACH AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT LIBERALISM.
1848: THE SENECA FALLS CONVENTION ISSUES ITS DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS, THE FIRST MAJOR U.S.-BASED MOVEMENT FOR WOMEN'S EQUALTIY.
1849: HENRY DAVID THOREAU WRITES HIS ARTICLE ON NONVIOLENT CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AS HIS PROTEST AGAINST SLAVERY AND THE U.S. WAR WITH
MEXICO.
1851: SOJURNER TRUTH GIVES HER FAMOUS "AIN'T I A WOMAN" SPEECH BEFORE AT A WOMAN'S RIGHT CONVENTION. AMONG THE WHITE WOMEN AND MEN WHO
SUPPORTED WOMEN'S EQUALITY, THERE WERE DEEP DIVISIONS AS TO HOW THE MOVEMENT SHOULD RESPOND TO SLAVERY AND OTHER FORMS OF RACIAL OPPRESSION.
1852: FREDERICK DOUGLAS GIVES HIS FAMOUS "THE HYPOCRISCY OF AMERICAN SLAVERY" SPEECH DURING A JULY 4TH CELEBRATION.
1854: CHIEF SEATTLE GIVES A
SPEECH TO A VISITING COMMISSION ON INDIAN AFFAIRS FOR THE WASHINGTON TERRITORY ABOUT THE SUFFERING OF HIS PEOPLE. WAS NOT FORMALLY PUBLISHED UNTIL 1887.
1855: WALT WHITMAN FIRST PUBLICATION OF LEAVES OF GRASS, A COLLECTION OF POEMS. IT WOULD BE REVISED AND UPDATED THROUGHOUT HIS
LIFETIME. PART OF THE TRANSCENDENTALIST MOVEMENT THAT AROSE IN THE 1820s AND IN THE 1830s IN NEW ENGLAND.
1859: BRITISH PHILSOPHER JOHN STUART MILL PUBLISHES, ON LIBERTY, A STRONG DEFENSE OF THE CLASSICAL AGE OF ENLIGHTNMENT CONCEPT OF CIVIL
LIBERTY. LATER, WITH THE HELP OF HIS WIFE, HE WILL PUBLISH A STRONG DEFENSE OF WOMEN'S EQUALITY IN, THE SUBJECTION OF WOMEN (1869).
1862: GERMAN KARL HEINRICH ULRICJS BEGINS TO CAMPAIGN FOR GAY EQUALITY, ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE TO DO SO, THROUGH PUBLICATIONS, EVEN A 1867
SPEECH BEFORE GERMAN LAWMAKERS ADVOCATING FOR THE REPEAL OF ANTI-GAY CRIMINAL LAWS.
1863: PRESIDENT LINCOLN ISSUES HIS EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION AND GIVES HIS FAMOUS, AND SHORT, GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.
THE PROCLAMATION FORMALLY TIED THE WAR EFFORT TO ENDING SLAVERY (THUS ENSURING THAT NATIONS, LIKE GREAT BRITAIN, WOULD NOT SIDE WITH THE SOUTH).
1866: THE NORTH (FORMALLY) WINS THE CIVIL WAR (FOR A LIST OF RECOMMENDED HISTORICAL MEDIA ON THE WAR, CLICK HERE)AND THE CENTRIST AND THE LEFT-WING REPUBLICANS DECIDE TO FOLLOWUP THE VICTORY WITH THREE
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS, TWO OF WHICH WERE QUITE RADICAL. ALAS, EARLY DRAFTS OF THE 15TH AMENDMENT (THAT WOULD HAD GRANTED NEAR UNIVERSAL ADULT MALE SUFFERAGE AND A RIGHT
TO HOLD OFFICE) WERE REJECTED IN FAVOR OF A MUCH WEAKER EXPANSION OF SUFFRAGE.
1872: THE RADICAL NATIONAL EQUAL RIGHTS PARTY NOMINATES A WOMAN FOR THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT (VICTORIA WOODHULL) AND A BLACK MAN (FREDERICK DOUGLAS) FOR THE OFFICE OF
VICE PRESIDENT. THE FIRST PARTY IN AMERICA TO DO SO. WHILE FOCUSED ON EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL CITIZENS, THE THIRD PARTY BACKED MANY PROGRESSIVE (SOMETIMES EVEN A BIT
LIBERTARIAN) REFORMS.
1894: BRITISH AUTHOR EDWARD CARPTER PUBLISHES A DFENSE OF GAY LOVE TITLED, "HOMOGENIC LOVE AND ITS PLACE IN A FREE SOCIETY". CARPENTER HAD A LONG-TERM
RELATIONSHIP WITH A WORKING-CLASS MAN, A RELATIONSHIP THAT INSPIRED E.M. FOSTER TO WRITE MAURICE (1913) AND (PROBABLY) D.H. LAWRENCE TO WRITE, LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER
(1928).
1897: GERMAN DOCTOR MAGNUS HIRSCHFELD FORMS THE SCIENTIFIC-HUMANITARIAN COMMITTEE TO CAMPAIGN FOR THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF LGBTQ PEOPLE. THE
GERMAN DOCTOR WOULD GO ONTO FORM THE INSTITUTE FOR SEXUAL SCIENCE AND PROMOTE A GAY-RIGHTS FILM CALLED, DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS (1919). ONE OF THE FIRST ACTS OF THE NAZIS WAS TO BURN
DOWN THE INSTITUE, FORCING HIRSCHFELD INTO EXILE.
1901: MARK TWAIN GIVES A SPEECH TO A WOMEN'S COLLEGE WHERE HE EXPRESSES HIS SUPPORT FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS, ESPECIALLY
SUFFRAGE/HOLDING OFFICE.
1905: UPTON SINCLAIR BEGINS TO PUBLISH (IN SERIAL FORM) THE JUNGLE, WITH THE NOVELIZATION BEING RELEASED A YEAR LATER. THE STORY, BASED ON SINCLAIR'S RESEARCH, SHOWS THE HARSH
WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE FACTORIES, THE TOTAL DESPARATION OF MANY POOR IMMIGRANTS AND THE TOTALLY UNSANITARY MEAT PACKING INDUSTRY.
1913: BRITISH AUTHOR E.M. FOSTER BEGINS WORK ON A NOVEL TITLED, MAURICE, A GAY LOVE STORY WITH A HAPPY ENDING. DUE TO THE LEGAL AND
SOCIAL HOMOPHOBIA (FOSTER WAS HIMSELF GAY) THAT EXISTED AT THE TIME, THE NOVEL REMAINS UNPUBLISHED UNTIL AFTER HIS DEATH IN 1971.
1920: SEX-DISCRIMINATION IN VOTING IS (OFFICIALLY) BANNED (IN AMERICA) WITH THE RATIFICATION OF THE 19TH AMENDMENT. A MAJOR LEGAL
VICTORY FOR WOMEN'S EQUALITY, ALBEIT THE TEXT OF THE AMENDMENT IS BASED ON THE 15TH AMENDMENT, WHICH HAS IT OWN UNFINISHED WORK.
1923: UNHAPPY WITH THE SLOW PACE OF CHANGE FOR WOMEN'S EQUALITY, A NEW POLITICAL PARTY IS FORMED IN THE UNITED STATES CALLED, THE NATIONAL WOMAN'S
PARTY. THE THIRD PARTY PROPOSES THE EQUAL RIGHTS
AMENDMENT (A VERSION OF WHICH IS SENT TO THE STATES FOR RATIFACTION IN 1972).
1933: PRESIDENT ELECT F.D.R.'S FIRST SPEECH TO THE NATION. WHERE HE CONFRONTS THE GREAT DEPRESSION'S HARDSHIP AND (AMONG OTHER
THINGS) ASSERTS THAT THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR, IS FEAR ITSELF.
1940: ACTOR CHARLIECHAPLIN'S FAMOUS SPEECH IN THE MOVIE, THE GREAT DICTATOR. THE MOVIE ITSELF IS A BRILLIANT ATTACK ON
FASICSM (AT A TIME WHEN THE U.S. WAS ONLY INDIRECTLY HELPING OUT THE ALLIES) AND THE SPEECH IS A CALL FOR ALL OF HUMANITY TO UNITE AGAINT FASCISM, GREED, HATRED AND INTOLERANCE.
1941: PRESIDENT F.D.R'S SPEECH TO CONGRESS IN RESPONSE TO JAPAN'S ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR. THE U.S. WILL FORMALLY ENTER THE WAR AND, IN
ANOTHER SPEECH, THE PRESIDENT WILL OUTLINE WHY THE WAR IS NECESSARY BY TALKING ABOUT THE FOUR FREEDOMS.
1942: ANN FRANK BEGINS WRITING HER DIARY WEEKS BEFORE SHE AND HER FAMILY ARE FORCED INTO HIDING DUE TO NAZI ANTI-JEWISH POLICIES. FRANK
WOULD LATER DIE IN A NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMP, BUT HER FATHER SURVIVED AND PUBLISHED AN EDITED/CENSORED VERSION OF THE
DIARY IN 1947. AN EXPANDED/UNCENSORED VERSION WOULD BE PUBLISHED MUCH LATER ON IN THE LATE 1980s.
1948: PRESIDENT TRUMAN GIVES A SPEECH BEFORE TO THE NAACP. THE FIRST SITTING PRESIDENT TO GIVE A SPEECH TO A MAJOR CIVIL RIGHT
GROUP IN AMERICA. HE EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF ALL AMERICANS AND URGES THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO ACT.
1948: THE NEWLY FORMED UNITED NATIONS ISSUES THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHT, AS THE FIRST PART OF WHAT WOULD BECOME THE INTERNATIONAL BILL OF
HUMAN RIGHTS. THE DECLARATION AND THE CREATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS WAS, IN NO SMALL PART, DUE TO THE HOLOCAUST
AND OTHER WARTIME ACTROCITIES.
1950: U.S. SENATOR MARGRET CHASE SMITH MAKES HER "DECLARATION OF CONSCIENCE" SPEECH (AS A REBUTALL TO THE COLD WAR ERA-MCARTHYISM). SHE DEFENDS THE FIRST AMENDMENT
RIGHT OF AMERICANS AT A TIME WHEN HER PARTY HAD THE HOUSE UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE HARASSING COMMUNISTS AND ANYONE WHO HAD MAINSTREAM LIBERAL VIEWS OR OTHER SO-CALLED,
UNCONVENTIONAL BELIEFS.
1955: THE U.S. SUPREME COURT ISSUES ITS DECISION IN BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION. IT CORRECTLY RULES THAT STATE-SPONSORED RACIAL SEGREGATION IN PUBLIC
SCHOOLS VIOLATES THE CONSTITUTION. SETS THE PRECEDENT THAT VIRTUALLY ALL FORMS OF RACIAL/ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION BY THE GOVERNMENT ITSELF IS, PROBABLY, UNCONSTITUTIONAL. GRADUALLY,
THE COURT WILL (SORT OF) APPLY THE EQUAL PROTECTION AND DUE PROCESS CLAUSES TO WOMEN (1970s), THE DISABLED (1980s) AND GAY CITIZENS (1990s). I DISCUSS MY VIEWS ON U.S. SUPREME COURT AND STATE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ELSEHWERE ON MY WEBSITE.
1961: OUTGOING U.S. PRESIDENT DWIGHT EISENHOWER GIVES HIS
FARWELL ADDRESS TO THE NATION, WHERE HE WARNS THE NATION ABOUT THE POTENTIAL DANGERS THAT COULD HAPPEN WITH THE GROWING POWER OF THE MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX.
1962: BAYARD RUSTIN, A HUMAN RIGHTS CHAMPION, DEBATES MALCOLM X, THEN A MILITANT BLACK SEPARATIST. AN EARLIER
DEBATE BETWEEN THESE TWO MEN OCCURED IN 1960.
1963: DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., WAS ARRESTED FOR HIS ROLE IN A PEACEFUL PROTEST AGAINST RACIAL DISCRIMINATION. WHILE HE JAIL, HE WRITES A WONDERFUL LETTER ABOUT HIS OVERALL PHILOSOPHY WITH REGARDS TO JUSTICE AND
CIVIL RIGHTS.
1963: U.S. PRESIDENT ELECT GIVES HIS FAMOUS ANTI-COMMUNIST SPEECH WHILE IN GERMANY TO SHOW AMERICAN SOLIDARITY WITH THE GERMAN PEOPLE, RECENTLY
DIVIDED BY AN IRON CURTAIN.
1963: DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., GIVES HIS "I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH" AT NATIONAL MARCH FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE. A MAJOR
ORGANIZER OF THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON WAS LONGTIME HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGNER, BAYARD RUSTIN.
1968: CESAR
CHAVEZ GIVES HIS 'WE SHALL OVERCOME' SPEECH DURING A MULTI-ETHNIC CAMPAIGN DEFENDING THE RIGHTS OF AGRICULTURAL WORKERS.
1978: HARVEY MILK, A SAN FRANCISCO CITY POLITICIAN, GIVES HIS FAMOUS 'HOPE' SPEECH ON FAVOR NOT JUST OF GAY RIGHTS, BUT ALSO THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF ETHNIC
MINORITIES, THE DISABLED AND SENIOR CITIZENS.
1987: "TEAR DOWN THIS WALL". PRESIDENT REAGAN GIVES HIS FAMOUS ANTI-COMMUNIST SPEECH IN BERLIN.
1988: JESSE JACKSON GIVES HIS FAMOUS SPEECH TO THE DNC ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF COALITION BUILDING, DESCRIBED AS A DIFFERENT PIECES OF A QUILT.
1992: ELIZABETH GLASER ADDRESSES THE DNC ON HER EXPERIENCE LIVING WITH AIDS.
BILL CILINTON GIVES HIS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH AT THE DNC. HE WOULD GO ONTO WIN
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
1995: HILLARY CLINTON, THEN THE FIRST LADY, GIVES HER FAMOUS SPEECH ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS.
1997: TONY BLAIR, U.K. CANDIDATE FOR PRIME MINISTER GIVES HIS VICTORY SPEECH AND PLEDGES TO GOVERN UNDER THE CENTRIST, "NEW LABOUR".
1998: U.K. PRIME MINSTER TONY BLAIR BECOMES THE FIRST BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TO ADDRESSS THE IRISH PARLAIMENT.
1998: AUTHOR PETER MCWILLIAMS GIVES A SPEECH TO THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY NATIONAL CONVENTION IN SUPPORT OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA. I HAD READ HIS BOOK ABOUT
CONSENSUAL CRIMES AND WHILE I AM NOT A FAN OF 'LEGALIZE EVERYTHING', I DO FEEL THAT THE BOOK MAKE A GOOD ARGUMENT AND WE TO GET MORE COMPASSIONATE AND MORE CREATIVE ABOUT HOW WE DEAL WITH
DRUG ADDICTION AND SEX WORKERS.
