Back More
Salem Press

Table of Contents

Defining Documents in World History: Human Rights

Chronological List

c. 539 bce: Excerpt from the Cyrus Cylinder

c. 262 bce: The Edicts of King Ashoka

1215: Magna Carta

January 28, 1573: Article V of the Warsaw Convention of 1573

1689: English Bill of Rights

January 16, 1786: Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

1789: Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

1791: The Bill of Rights

1832: Evidence Provided to the Sadler Committee

1833: Declaration of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Convention

1838: National Petition from the People’s Charter

1855: A Letter to the Queen on Lord Chancellor Cranworth’s Marriage and Divorce Bill

August 28, 1857: Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 (excerpts)

July 1895: Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin: Address to the First National Conference of Colored Women

December 1906: Jane Addams: “Child Labor and Other Dangers of Childhood”

November 13, 1913: Emmeline Pankhurst: “Freedom or Death”

1920: The Black Man’s Burden

1942: Mahatma Gandhi’s “Quit India” Speech

December 9, 1948: Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

1949: Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War

November 4, 1950: European Convention on Human Rights

June 28, 1952: Maternity Protection Convention (Revised), 1952

1955: Freedom Charter of South Africa

1963: Equal Pay Act

June 7, 1965: Griswold v. Connecticut

December 21, 1965: International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

December 16, 1966: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

December 16, 1966: International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

March 22, 1972: Eisenstadt v. Baird

January 22, 1973: Roe v. Wade

November 23, 1974: Indira Gandhi: “What Educated Women Can Do”

1977: National Women’s Conference Plan of Action

December 18, 1979: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

June, 1981: African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights

December 10, 1984: Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

November 20, 1989: Convention on the Rights of the Child

June 25, 1993: Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action

December 20, 1993: Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women

October 2, 2000: Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

November 2, 2001: Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity

January 2, 2002: The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action

June 26, 2003: Lawrence v. Texas

July 5, 2006: European Union: Summary of Directive on Gender Equality

December 13, 2006: Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

September 13, 2007: United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

June 29, 2008: Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work

October 28, 2009: Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Act

June 16, 2011: Convention on Domestic Workers

June 26, 2015: Obergefell v. Hodges

August 30, 2022: UN Experts Urge More Action to Ensure Dignity, Equity and Justice for Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers of African Descent

September 7, 2022: Human Rights Concerns Related to Forced Displacement in Ukraine

Citation Types

MLA 9th
"Chronological List." Defining Documents in World History: Human Rights, edited by Aaron Gulyas, Salem Press, 2023. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=DDHumRights_0063.
APA 7th
Chronological List. Defining Documents in World History: Human Rights, In A. Gulyas (Ed.), Salem Press, 2023. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=DDHumRights_0063.
CMOS 17th
"Chronological List." Defining Documents in World History: Human Rights, Edited by Aaron Gulyas. Salem Press, 2023. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=DDHumRights_0063.