Civil society/Timelines

Timeline for Civil Society

A sequence of significant events in the evolution of the idea of civil society.

1767

Adam Ferguson's Essay on the History of Civil Society is published in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1776

Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations is published in Edinburgh.

The American revolution began.

1789

French Revolution. James Madison drafts the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, known collectively as the bill of rights. The document is a legal cornerstone in the U.S. conception of civil society: It includes freedoms of expression through speech, the press, and peaceable assembly, religion, rights to petition government and bear arms, and protections against unreasonable search and seizure, cruel and unusual punishment and compulsory self incrimination, as well as generalized protection of life, liberty and property.

1791

Bill of rights ratified by three quarters of the states.

1819

In Dartmouth v. Woodward, the U.S. Supreme Court prevented the state legislature of New Hampshire from taking control of Dartmouth College.

1822

George W.F. Hegel published Elements of the Philosophy of Right, containing his discussion of civil society, in German.

1832

Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont visit the United States to study the penitentiary system.

1845

Tocqueville's De la démocratie en Amérique is published in Paris.

1848

Revolution of 1848.

1862

The first English-language edition of Tocqueville's study, entitled Democracy in America is published in Cambridge MA by Sever and Francis.

1889

In September, Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr move into Hull House, establishing the celebrated Settlement House.

1895

Hull House Association incorporated in the state of Illinois.

1901

Voluntary association is legalized in France.

1945

The Bradley, Reeve and Bowen translation of Tocqueville's Democracy in America is published by A.A. Knopf in New York. It contains the specific language that most English speakers regard as Tocqueville's original language.

1948

Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations on December 10. (See the official website for the declaration).

1958

The U.S. Supreme Court affirms a "right of association" in NAACP vs. Alabama. This right was the basis on which the organization was allowed to keep its membership secret from state officials who were seeking information on civil rights activity in the state.

1990

Activism by Solidarity led to semi-free elections in Poland. The resulting coalition government was one of the major steps in the emergence of civil society in central and eastern Europe.

2001

Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone: The collapse and revival of american community is published in the U.S.