There is always much to learn from quotes and their historical significance. Read on for a collection of quotes and general history from March 21st – 27th.
March 21, 1804
“There shall be a code of civil laws common for the entire realm.”
– French National Assembly, September 4, 1791
The Napoleonic Code went into effect on March 21, 1804, replacing a patchwork of feudal laws with a common civil code. Officially called the Civil Code of the French, it stresses clearly written and accessible law. The Code was one of the first modern legal codes adopted in Europe and strongly influenced the development of many of the countries formed by the Napoleonic Wars. It has also been cited in legal reforms outside Europe, particularly in Latin America and the Middle East. Due to this widespread impact, Historian Robert Holtman regards the Napoleonic Code as one of the few documents to have influenced the whole world!
March 22, 1972
“If the right of privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child.”
– U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr.
The U.S. Supreme Court case Eisenstadt v. Baird was decided on March 22, 1972. The landmark decision struck down a Massachusetts law that prevented the distribution of contraceptives to unmarried people. The case started in 1967 when William Baird was charged with a felony for distributing contraceptive foams after lectures on birth control at Boston University. His actions were in violation of Massachusetts law on “Crimes against chastity” that stated contraceptives could be distributed only by registered doctors or pharmacists and only to married persons. The Supreme Court’s 6-1 decision that the law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution has since been cited in many other sexual rights cases.
March 23, 1775
“Give me liberty, or give me death!”
– Patrick Henry
The famous line “Give me liberty, or give me death!” is attributed to Patrick Henry’s speech to the Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775. Henry’s words were crucial to passing a resolution delivering Virginia troops for the Revolutionary War. However, while there’s no doubt Henry gave a speech that day, it wasn’t printed until 1816. Thus, the exact wording is debated among historians, and some wonder if it shouldn’t be author William Wirt credited with the famous closing words from the version published in his biography of Henry, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry.
March 24, 1603
“When ambitious desires arise in thy heart, recall the days of extremity thou have passed through. Forbearance is the root of all quietness and assurance forever.”
– Tokugawa Ieyasu
On March 24, 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu was granted the title of shōgun from Emperor Go-Yōzei. This officially established the Tokugawa shogunate that ruled Japan until 1867. Their rule, known as the Edo period, organized Japanese society under the strict Tokugawa class system and instituted an isolationist policy banning most foreigners. Japan experienced rapid economic growth and urbanization during this period but the Tokugawa shogunate was eventually overthrown by supporters of the Imperial Court in the Meiji Restoration.
March 25, 1807
“Every human on the planet is descended from both slaves and slave owners. What makes Britain unusual is not that we engaged in the disgusting trade, but that we eliminated it. Our political institutions led us, earlier than many, to the conclusion that freedom was the highest virtue.”
– Daniel Hannan
An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was passed by British Parliament on March 25, 1807. This Act ended the slave trade in the British Empire, pressured other European nations to follow suit, and helped lead to the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833. Earlier that same March, the United States had banned the importation of slaves. The Act created fines for ship captains up to £100 per slave found on their ship. Unfortunately, this sometimes led slaves to be dumped overboard when Navy ships approached to avoid the fines.
March 26, 1953
“Childhood vaccines are one of the great triumphs of modern medicine. Indeed, parents whose children are vaccinated no longer have to worry about their child’s death or disability from whooping cough, polio, diphtheria, hepatitis, or a host of other infections.”
– Ezekiel Emanuel
On March 26, 1953, the first successful test of a polio vaccine was announced by Dr. Jonas Salk. As the first effective polio vaccine, extensive testing was conducted between its development in 1952 by Salk and a team at the University of Pittsburgh and its release to the public in 1955. This testing included the Francis Field Trial which was the largest medical experiment in history at the time. An oral polio vaccine was later developed and together the two vaccines have eliminated polio from most of the world!
March 27, 1964
“Whenever an earthquake or tsunami takes thousands of innocent lives, a shocked world talks of little else.”
– Anne M. Mulcahy
The Great Alaskan Earthquake occurred on March 27, 1964. The magnitude 9.2 megathrust earthquake is the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in North America and second worldwide. The earthquake and resulting tsunamis caused 131 deaths and extensive property damage, reaching as far away as Hawaii and Japan. There were hundreds of aftershocks that continued to strike the region for more than a year.
In case you missed last week’s quotes, see History March 14th – 20th.
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