Civil Liberties in History

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

One of the fascinating — and sometimes terrifying — lessons of history is that governments and their leaders easily abuse power.

Some very smart people began to think a few centuries ago about how better to limit that power. Oddly enough, the tools they decided upon were a pen and paper!

Let's see how the situation of law and power evolved from the grim and brutal days of the Middle Ages to the U.S. Bill of Rights.

1. Examine the website, A Brief History of Human Rights, courtesy of United for Human Rights. You should click through the sequence of pages linked at the bottom of the page to see all the information provided. As you read, gather notes about each of the events in the development of the concept of civil liberties and human rights, such as:
• key documents
• important people
• critical events
• other noteworthy facts

2. After you have gathered your notes, create a timeline with at least eight items that describe the history of human rights as described on the website.
3. Using your own research, find two or three other websites on the same topic of the history of civil liberties or human rights, and add at least five new facts or ideas to your timeline.

Present your timeline to your parent or teacher. Then, reflect on the following questions and discuss:

• What conclusions can you draw about the history of the concept of civil liberties?
• How does the U.S. Bill of Rights relate to other historical developments?
• If these civil liberties are such a great idea, why do so many countries still not have them?

Now that you have an overview of the history of civil liberties and the development of human rights, continue on to the Got It? section to take a look at some of the specific attempts to preserve rights for the people against their government through time.