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Hammurabi code compare and contrast dbq
Hammurabi code compare and contrast dbq
Hammurabi code compare and contrast dbq
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Hammurabi's Code VS. Modern Law
“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”. Many of us have heard this phrase but how many actually know its meaning and origin. The year is 1792 BCE and Hammurabi has just taken the throne after his father , reigned over the first dynasty of Babylon and would soon conquer all of Ancient Mesopotamia. Although Hammurabi was highly successful during his reign he is greatly known for comprising a set of laws or codes to maintain control over his people as well as those he conquered. What he did was gather different set of laws from different parts of his empire and from that he created a set of about 300 laws that dealt with marriage, trade, taxes, divorce, theft and murder. Some laws were harsh and some were quite
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reasonable. The laws weren’t only a set of laws for the commoners or slaves of the empire but also to those of high ranking like nobles. To the people of today’s modern society many of these laws seem strange. For example if a son strikes his own father , the son’s hands will be cut off. Hammurabi’s Code or set of laws may have been created in the ancient world but it contains many similarities we see today in U.S. modern law and justice system. The U.S criminal justice system is a complex structure of processes which the government take to penalize those who break the law. The United states doesn't have just one justice system to which it governs by but individual systems and most of these systems have their own components from which they uphold the law. For example there’s law enforcement, court systems, defense attorneys and each one of these play a key role. If a crime is committed there’s a systematic way of dealing with it. First the crime is reported, then there’s an investigation and lastly there’s a conviction on the crime. If a man were reported and charged with murder for example he would then be accounted as a suspect. One key principle that the U.S. and it’s justice system goes by is “innocent until proven guilty”. Now this man who is charged with murder is only a suspect unless he is proven innocent. To be proven innocent an investigation is to be taken and during this investigation there must be substantial evidence to be proven innocent or guilty for the crime. Once evidence is compiled he will then be taken to court and given his final conviction for the crime. In a nutshell that’s how thats more or less how the United State’s justice system works. As stated before the U.S justice system and Hammurabi’s code shares its similarities and its differences.
Both systems of laws set out an objective which is to control the people and punish those who against the law. However Hammurabi’s Code was very extreme compared to what we have today in the U.S. If a man was charged for stealing in todays society he will most likely be arrested and depending on what he stole or what he did to steal he will be given a sentence to serve time in prison. If a man was charged for stealing in the Babylonian Empire he will either have his hands cut off or be put to death. Going back to the U.S justice system which is enforced , Hammurabi’s Code was not enforced but recommended to those in his kingdom. Another big difference between the two systems was the procedures they both took. There’s no account on what procedures people of the Babylonian Empire took to over see that there was justice. It is also known that the Babylonian did not treat all of its people equally which would make the law unequal as well. The U.S believes everyone is equal under the law which means a rich man has the same rights as a man without any money at all. If they are both accused the same crime they will both be investigated the same and convicted the same. If a slave under Babylonian law was convicted for the same crime as his master the slave will receive a harsher punishment. Although Hammurabi’s code was a little gruesome and extreme it shared one key component that we in the U.S use today. They too believed in the principle of “innocent until proven
guilty”.
Hammurabi’s Code and the US Constitution contrast because they have different punishments for the same crimes, they get their power from different sources, and because men, women and slaves are treated differently. Hammurabi's Code and the US Constitution contrast because they have different punishments for the same crimes. For example, petty (low value) theft in the US can result in charges from $500 to $1000, whereas it resulted in death according to Hammurabi’s Code. Another transgression that has very different punishments is abducting “stealing” a minor. In America, the punishment is serving a term in prison for up to five years.
Is Hammurabi’s Code just or unjust? Hammurabi ruled for 42 years. By his 38th year, he already had 282 laws. He ruled over most of Mesopotamia. He became king of a small city-state called Babylon. He wasn’t the first king to write in cuneiform for his laws.
Hammurabi is best known for his succession in writing down the first complete set of laws, titled Hammurabi’s Code. He strived as a king to bring protection, fairness, and justice to the weak of society using laws from the God of justice, Shamash. Hammurabi’s Code was written on a large stone pillar called a stele. In addition to writing a set of 282 laws, he expanded the territory of Babylon northward and westward, encouraged agriculture, and oversaw the erection of many buildings and temples. One may argue that since Hammurabi changed and eliminated some of the laws before he published the complete set, he was changed by the times. However, revising some of the laws was necessary to ensure the best protection and fairness for the people. Overall, King Hammurabi laid the foundation for the laws that we have today and his legacy continues on in our justice
Ancient laws were brutal. Babylonian laws, like Hammurabi's Code, included physical torture and death as punishments. The rule behind these punishments was "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."Hammurabi was the name of the king in the city-state of Babylon who ruled for nearly 4,000 years ago.This code was a set of 282 laws that maintained order. Hammurabi's Code was unjust because accidents were punished, punishments for intentional damage was extreme, and it focused on revenge instead of preventing future crime.
The Hammurabi Code is the oldest and most comprehensive set of laws in the world. The 282 laws set the structure for the civilization of Mesopotamia. Hammurabi, who was the sixth king of Mesopotamia, created these laws for a sense of order and peace. However, when investigating these laws further, they seem unfair and unjust for many reasons. People would be punished differently based on their class status. The punishments were harsher towards the freemen, rather than slaves. Although the Hammurabi Code worked to keep order and justice, discrimination existed between slaves and freemen, men and women, and adults and children.
I believe that Hammurabi’s code is just because of the punishments he give for personal injury laws.In law #196, the law states,” If a man knocked out the eye of a free man,his eye shall be knocked out.
Before he died, Hammurabi was a person who created many laws. He created a code of 282 fair laws (BGE). He created his law on a stone seal. He made the laws to control the city-state of Babylonia. He was a ruler of a huge city-state in Mesopotamia for 42 years. He made laws for 1,000,000 people that each person had to follow or they would be punished on what they did. The way they were punished depended on what they did. There were 3 categories Family law, Property law, and Personal-Injury law. Was Hammurabi’s code just? Hammurabi’s laws were just because of 3 categories, Family Laws, Property Laws, and Personal-Injury Laws.
Overall, the Hammurabi’s Code of Laws showed that crimes in Mesopotamia were followed by severe punishments. Very often these punishments were death penalty. The laws were not equal between social classes, and slaves were subjected to the harsher punishments than free-born.
One of the most important aspects of any society is the ruling system. A society simply could not function without any sort of rules or regulations. With the tremendous growth of Babylonian society came the need for law systems. Perhaps one of the most well known law systems was Babylonian ruler Hammurabi’s compilation of Mesopotamian laws known as Hammurabi 's Code. Hammurabi 's Code contained laws pertaining to trade, marriage, property, crime, social class, and more (Judge and Langdon, 25). So much can be learned about early societies through this famous artifact. Although these laws may have been accepted by the Babylonian citizens at the time, it is now clear to see that the code was extremely unjust. Hammurabi 's Code uncovers the social
takes the form of “an eye for an eye”, meaning that the offender should be punished by an act of
The Hammurabi Code and Mosaic Law were used to lead their people during two different era. They were similarities and differences, between the two. For example, they were both discovered by their leaders in similar ways, but differed in their approach to justice and morality. Hammurabi Code respects women, but has distinct social class and penalties based on the class you belonged to, while the Mosaic Law had no distinction between people and gave everybody even fairness.
The Code of Hammurabi has a slightly different way of describing the way a society should maintain stability and avoid chaos. In this code of conduct it is more on the lines of something similar to the Bill of Rights where each idea is stated in form of a law. For example, in the 15th amendment of The Code it staes “15: If any one take a male or female slave of the court, or a male or female slave of a freed man, outside the city gates [to escape], he shall be put to death.” It is a listed set of laws followed by a consequence whether it is minor or as harsh as the death penalty. If such harsh punishments were informed, I believe the law makers or theorists saw it as a type of scare which would prevent people from committing the crime. There are those people who do break the law and make stupid decisions, but it would keep the amount of people making stupid decisions and breaking the law to a
The Code of Hammurabi was written by King Hammurabi, who began ruling the Babylonian Empire in about 1800 BC. Hammurabi came to power using his strengths as a military leader, conquering many smaller city-states to create his Empire. Hammurabi believed that the gods appointed him to bring justice and order to his people, and he took this duty very seriously. Not long after his ascent to power, he created his Code, 282 laws written to define all relationships and aspects of life in the kingdom. The laws were displayed in a public place so that all the people could have the opportunity to study them. The laws applied to everyone, though application of the laws and punishment differed according to social class. The punishments for disobeying the laws were swift and harsh, further encouraging compliance.
Hammurabi’s code is a list of laws similar to “eye for an eye” except for a few. According to Hammurabi, if a man’s wife is caught with another male then both shall be tossed into the water but if a man attempts rape to a women in their fathers house then the man is kill and the women is free. You can see that women are starting to gain more respect during this time but still not perfect equality. If a women says she does not want to have a sexual relationship with her husband then it goes under investigation by authorities, from there, if they agree with the women then the women had to return to her fathers house but if they don’t agree then the women gets cast into the
After the Commercial Law came the Penal Law. This had to do with the issue of crime. The laws were unusually harsh do to their ineducation. Despite this the wealthy class usually enjoyed more freedom from the law than the lower classes. There was no jury in the court back in the times of Babylon. The code of Hammurabi was like an eye for an eye punishment. If you killed someone than you would be killed.