Laws
"Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice, ... when they fail to do this purpose they become dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Connors, MorgueFile.com
As a legislator, your job is to make laws by which citizens must abide. Here on this island, you will need to consider what laws are necessary to the survival of your civilization based on those of previous civilizations. To help your group, please review different legal codes (which provide laws and consequences) with them from throughout history. You have many options below.
Directions: Download the "Legal Codes" graphic organizer to record your notes for two civilizations (as indicated in the sites list below) for this section. You will turn this in at the end of the project. When you are finished, return to the "Process" page.
Microsoft Word Document (Mac - Control + Mouseclick and select the browser option to download/save; PC - Right Click and select the browser option to download/save)
Make sure that you type your answers or write them neatly in the boxes and that you write which legal code you have chosen in each of the boxes on the left column. Some codes may not have information to fill each box.
Ancient Laws
Provide information to your group about one of the following.
-
WAWC Anthology: Hammurabi's Code of Laws
-
The Twelve Tables (earliest Roman law)
-
The Law Code of Gortyn (Crete), c. 450 BCE
- Ancient Legal Texts.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Walsh, MorgueFile.com
Medieval through Modern Age Laws
Select one from the following links and report on the civilization's laws:
The United States Constitution (National Archives)
The Civil Code (The Napoleonic Code)