Animal Rights History

Animal Rights Quotes - Timeline of Animal Rights History - Free Online Library of Primary Source Historical Literature
Explore the History of Animal Rights, Animal Welfare, Animal Protection Law and Humane Education Against Cruelty to Animals

"A wonderful resource for all of us interested in learning more about those who have spoken for the voiceless in the past."

Tom Regan, Author of The Case for Animal Rights


Our Free Online Library of Primary Source Historical Literature documents the authenticity of Quotes introducing Animal Rights Activists, Animal Welfare Advocates, Legislators, Authors and others against cruelty to animals while providing more in-depth insight into the ideologies of humane movement against cruelty to animals and additional historical perspective on the continuing struggle for Animal Rights, Animal Welfare and the Protection of Animals.


Animal Rights History is an ongoing effort to provide free online access to historical literature on animal rights, animal welfare, and humanity against cruelty to animals. As a free online library, literary research resource, animal rights timeline and historical literature archive, AnimalRightsHistory.Org promotes and facilitates: access to information, humane education, literary research and the preservation of historical literature on animal rights, animal welfare, and the protection of animals.


Antiquity, Ancient Animal Rights Law & Middle Ages

[BCE-3rdc.] Mythical-Divine Origin; Antiquity—Classical Literature

[3rdc.-1485] Early Church Fathers, Old-Middle English Period
Ancient Animal Rights Law | Early Prohibitions of the Middle Ages


Renaissance, Early Anti-Cruelty Legislation

[1485-1660] Leonardo Da Vinci—Beginnings of English Renaissance; Elizabethan Era, Age of Shakespeare
Animal Rights Law in the Renaissance, Early Anti-Cruelty Legislation


Age of Enlightenment

[1660-1689] Restoration
[1689-1745] Augustan Literary Period, Age of Pope
[1745-1785] Age of Sensibility, Age of Johnson
Animal Rights Law in the Age of Enlightenment, Early Pleas for Legislation


Romantic Age, Modern Legislative Beginnings

[1785-1798] Early Romantic Age; Blake, Burns, Cowper
[1798-1806] Wordsworth; Early Anti-Cruelty Bills
[1807-1832] Byron, Shelley; Martin's Act Against Cruelty to Animals
Animal Rights Law in the Romantic Age-Modern Legislative Beginings


Victorian Age Age; Anti-Vivisection

[1832-1876] Early Victorian Age
[1870-1901] Late Victorian Age; Anti-Vivisection Act
Animal Rights Law in the Victorian Age, Anti-Cruelty/Anti-Vivisection Legislation


Early 20th Century

[1901-1945] Edwardian Age, Mark Twain; Modern Age
Animal Rights Law in the Early 20th Century, Continuing Anti-Cruelty Legislation



Animal Rights Articles-Letters-Reviews

Articles, Letters to the Editor, Reviews of Books Against Cruelty to Animals
Animals Friend Magazine Annual Register Annual Review Anti-Jacobin Review British Critic Christian Pioneer Christian Reformer Critical Review Edinburgh Magazine European Magazine Evangelical Magazine Frasers Magazine Fortnightly Review Gentleman's Magazine Guardian Indicator Ladies Repository Leigh Hunt's London Review Literary Panorama London Magazine Monthly Magazine Monthly Mirror Monthly Review New Christian's Magazine Orthodox Churchman's Magazine Reflector Scots Magazine Sporting Magazine Spectator United States Literary Gazette Universalist-Ladies Repository Universal Magazine Talter

Animal Rights Law

Ancient Laws for the Protection of Animals, Early Anti-Cruelty Legislation & the Modern Legislative Beginnings of the Humane Movement Against Animal Cruelty

Thomas Wentworth's Act of 1635 in Ireland, as well as Nathaniel Ward's contribution to the Massachusetts Body of Liberties of 1641 establishes American and English law against cruelty to animals almost 200 years prior to the passage of Richard Martin's Act of 1822, a Bill to Prevent the Cruel and Improper Treatment of Cattle. Since these contributions were largely unknown until the late 20th century, the modern era of anti-cruelty legislation is usually traced back to the precedence set by "Martin's Act" and the amendments and legislative enactments against cruelty to animals that followed. However, it is King Ashoka, in the 3rd century BCE that we must honor as being the first to decree law not only for the protection of animals, creating the first list of "protected" species but, progressive even by today's standards, proclaiming the slaughter of animals as food or for sacrifice unlawful.



Animal Rights-Poetry and Plays

Poets-Playwrights Humane Sentiments against Animal Cruelty; Animal Rights, Animal Welfare and the Protection of Animals in Poetry and Plays

Anna BarbouldJohn BidlakeWilliam BlakeLuke BookerRobert BurnsLord ByronSamuel Taylor ColeridgeJoseph CottleWilliam CowperGeorge CrabbeWilliam Hamilton DrummondEmpedoclesHesiodLucretiusOvidAlexander PopeSamuel Jackson PrattShakespearePercy Bysshe ShelleyWilliam ShenstonePhilip SidneyJames ThomsonVirgilJohn WolcotWilliam Wordsworth



Animal Rights Quotes

References to the Rights of Animals in Historical Literature

"Whereby [men] pretend a right to invade and violate [animals'] natural rights" (Thomas Tryon, 1684), and "with no kind advocate to plead in behalf of their invaded rights" (Clergyman, 1824), References to the rights of animals in historical literature against cruelty to animals "pleading the rights of the animal creation" (Legh Richmond, 1801) and "acknowledg[ing] that there are the RIGHTS of a BEAST, as well as the RIGHTS of a MAN" (Herman Daggett, 1791) helped form "the foundation of the Rights of Animals" (Thomas Young, 1798).



Anti-Vivisection Quotes

Quotes from Activists Against Vivisection, Experiments on Animals, Animal Experimentation, Animal Tests, Testing & Research on Animals.

Plotinus in the 3rd century, refused medical treatments derived from animals. During the Renaissance, William Shakepeare spoke out against vivisection in many of his plays while Henry More began a Latin correspondence with Descarte describing vivisection as "murderous and barbarous." And although in the Age of Enlightenment, individuals such as Joseph Addison, Samuel Johnson, Voltaire, Thomas Percival, William Trinder as well as Lord Byron, Elizabeth "Bessy" Kent, William Hamilton Drummond and James Lawson Drummond during the Romantic Age also spoke out against the cruelties, it is the Victorian Age that encompasses the beginnings of the anti-vivisection movement.



Animal Rights Religion, Religious Quotes & Sermons Against Animal Cruelty

Quotes against Sacrifice, Quotes on Souls; Immortality-Future Life of Brutes



Blood-Sports, Hunting Quotes

Quotes against the Cruelty of Bear-Baiting, Bull-Baiting, Bullfighting, Cockfighting, Cock Throwing, Throwing at Cocks; Field Sports, Fishing, Hare Coursing, Shooting



Humanity-Justice; Humane Education

Quotes on Humanity, Justice and Kindness to Animals; Quotes on Cruelty of Children; Teaching Children Kindness to Animals; Humane Education



Intelligence, Reason, Emotion of Animals

Quotes on Kinship with our Fellow Beings; Interconnectedness of Life; Fellowship, Brotherhood, Sisterhood, Animals as our Brothers and Sisters.



Use-Abuse of Animals; Slavery of Animals

Quotes against Cruelty to Animals as Laborers, Domesticated Animals,
Slavery of Animals, Analogies to Slavery, Servitude, Animals as Slaves
Horses: Tail-Docking, Bearing-Reins, Racing; Quotes Against the Cruelty of Fur, Feathers, Millinery; Protection of Birds; In Loving Memory of my friend and fellow activist Jenny Alvarado who coined the phrase "Make Compassion the Fashion."



Vegetarianism

Pre-socratic philosopher Pythagoras advocated a natural diet; entire essays against flesh-eating can be found as far back as the first century; and later authors continued to advocate the Pythagorean diet of fruits and vegetables. Pleas from Vegetarians, Remarks of Individuals whose Sentiments Suggest they Might be Vegetarians—although History Offers No Proof—and Non-Vegetarians Remarks Against the Cruelty of Slaughter and the Eating of Flesh document the history of vegetarianism.

Source Documents Quotes-Library of Primary
Source Historical Literature
Animal Rights History Timeline


Antiquity, Ancient Animal Rights Law & the Middle Ages


Animal Welfare-Animal Rights Activists-Advocates-Quotes
Against Cruelty to Animals
Mythical & Divine Origin:
[Divine] Manu
[Mythical] Triptolemus
Before the Common Era (BC): Cave Paintings
Ancient ReligionsJainism,
Historic India—The doctrines of Ahimsa & Vegetarianism evolve.
[8th C. BCE] Hesiod
[Ancient Athens] Apreopagites
[621 BCE] Draco
[c599-510 BCE] Siddhartha, Sakyamuni, Buddha
[c 599-527 BCE] Mahavira
[c552-496 BCE] Pythagoras
[484-425 BCE] Herodotus
[c492-432 BCE] Empedocles
[c396-314 BCE] Xenocrates
[d. 276 BCE] Polemon
[c273-232 BCE] King Asoka
Ancient Animal Rights Law
[106-43 BCE] Cicero
[c94-49 BCE] Lucretius
[1st C. BCE]Quintus Sextius
[70-19 BCE] Virgil
Common Era (AD):
[43 BCE - 17 CE] Ovid
[1st C. BCE-CE]Sotion
[c 4 BCE-65] Seneca
[23-79] Pliny the Elder
[c46-120] Plutarch
[d. c215 ]Clement of Alexandria
[2nd or 3rd C.] Sextus Empiricus
[c160-230] Tertullian
[205-270] Plotinus
[c245-305] Porphyry


[3rd c.-1485] Early Church Fathers and the Middle Ages
Animal Welfare-Animal Rights Activists-Advocates-Quotes
Against Cruelty to Animals
[3rd century] Arnobius
[c240-320] Lactantius
[293-373] St. Athanasius
[329-379] St. Basit of Casearea
[c347-407] St. Chrysostom
[354-430] St. Augustine of Hippo
[c673-716] St. Guthalc, Crowland
[d. 618] St. Kevin of Glendalough
[c1115-1180] St. John of Salisbury
[c1197-1253] St Richard deWyche
[c1181-1286] St. Francis Assisi
[13th c.] St. James of Venice
[13th c.] Walter of Henley
[d. 1349] Richard the Hermit
[1347-80] St. Catherine of Siena
[c1340-1400] Geoffrey Chaucer
[c1300-73] St. Bridget of Sweden
[c late 14th c.] Dives et Pauper
[1533-92] St. Bernardine of Siena


The Renaissance and Early Anti-Cruelty Legislation
1485-1660


Animal Welfare-Animal Rights Activists-Advocates-Quotes
Against Cruelty to Animals
[c1485-1660] Renaissance
[1509-1564] John Calvin
[1541-1603] Pierre Charron
[1452-1519] Leonardo Da Vinci
[1542-1591] John of the Cross
[1533-1592] Michel de Montaigne
[1614-1687] Henry More
[1478-1535] Thomas More
[1592-1644] Francis Quarles
[c1564-1616] Shakespeare
[1554-1586] Philip Sidney
[c1555-1610] Philip Stubbes
[1578-1652] Nathaniel Ward
[1593-1641] Thomas Wentworth


Age of Enlightenment
1660-1785


[1660-1689] Restoration
Animal Welfare-Animal Rights Activists-Advocates-Quotes
Against Cruelty to Animals
[1620-1706] John Evelyn
[1609-1676] Matthew Hale
[1633-1703] Samuel Pepys
[1634-1703] Thomas Tryon
[1634-1680] Nathaniel Wanley


[1689-1745] Augustan Period Age of [Alexander] Pope
Animal Welfare-Animal Rights Activists-Advocates-Quotes
Against Cruelty to Animals
[1662-1719] Joseph Addison
[1690-1743] Father Bougeant
[1692-1752] Joseph Butler
[1697-1753] James Foster
[1682-1756] John Hildrop
[1632-1704] John Locke
[1670-1733] Bernard Mandeville
[1688-1744] Alexander Pope
[1714-1763] William Shenstone
[1672-1729] Richard Steele
[1700-1748] James Thomson
[1630-1694] John Tillotson
[1634-1703] Thomas Tryon
[1667-1752] William Whitson


[1745-1785] Age of Sensibility Age of [Samuel] Johnson
Animal Welfare-Animal Rights Activists-Advocates-Quotes
Against Cruelty to Animals
[1737-1803] Rev. Richard Amner
[1742-1825] Anna Barbauld
[1764-1850] Dr. Samuel Bardsley
[1723-1780] William Blackstone
[Sensibility] Christopher Brown
[1743-1818] Patrick Brydone
[1714-1774] James Burgh
[1761] Clemency to Brutes
[1731-1800] William Cowper
[1748-1789] Thomas Day
[1705-1757] David Hartley
[1715-1773] John Hawkesworth
[1714-1758] James Hervey
[1697-1764] William Hogarth
[1704-1787] Soame Jenyns
[1677-1743] Louis Lemery
[1704-1789] Samuel Pegge
[1740-1804] Thomas Percival
[1749-1814] Samuel Pratt
[1736-1779] Humphrey Primatt
[1712-1778] Rousseau
[1684-1778] Voltaire
[1703-1791] Rev. John Wesley




William Hogarth Voltaire Alexander Pope Lord Coleridge Mary Wollstonecraft Jeremy Bentham William Blake William Wordsworth Thomas Wentworth

   

Romantic Age and Modern Legislative Beginnings
1785-1837


[1785-1798] Romantic Age
Burns-Blake-Cowper

Animal Welfare-Animal Rights Activists-Advocates-Quotes
Against Cruelty to Animals
[1744-1817] Ralph Beilby
[1748-1832] Jeremey Bentham
[1753-1828] Thomas Bewick
[1755–1814] John Bidlake
[1762-1835] Luke Booker
[1757-1827] William Blake
[1759-1796] Robert Burns
[1772-1834] Samuel Coleridge
[1787] Country Village Rector
[1731-1800] William Cowper
[1766-1832] Herman Daggett
[1724-1804] William Gilpin
[1767-1835] W. von Humboldt
[1753-1839] John Lawrence
[ d. 1793] John Oswald
[1738-1819] Peter Pindar
[1749-1814] Samuel Jackson Pratt
[1764-1823] Anne Radcliffe
[1745-1813] Benjamin Rush
[1758-1835] Thomas Taylor
[Romantic] William Trinder
[1770-1832] Priscilla Wakefield
[1738-1819] John Wolcot
[1759-1797] Mary Wollstonecraft



Romantic Age Legislators
Animal Welfare-Animal Rights Activists-Advocates-Quotes
Against Cruelty to Animals
[1742-1825] Mr. Baker
[Romantic] Sir Charles Bunbury
[Romantic] Mr. Dent
[1750-1818] Lord Ellenborough
[1750-1823] Lord Erskine
[Romantic] Sir Richard Hill
[Romantic] Mr. Jekyll
[Romantic] Mr. Morris
[Romantic] Mr. Newbolt
[Romantic] Sir William Pulteney
[Romantic] Sir Samuel Romilly
[Romantic] Richard Sheridan
[1756-1835] Mr. William Smith
[Romantic] Mr. Stephen
[Romantic] Mr. Steven
[1759-1833] William Wilberforce
[Romantic] Sir Robert Williams
[Romantic] Sir John Wrottesly



[1798-1807] Romantic Age
Wordsworth-Anti-Cruelty Bills

Animal Welfare-Animal Rights Activists-Advocates-Quotes
Against Cruelty to Animals
[1759-1822] Edward Barry
[1748-1832] Jeremey Bentham
[1755–1814] John Bidlake
[1762-1835] Luke Booker
[Romantic] Rev. William Bingley
[Romantic] Rev. Henry Brindley
[1772-1834] Samuel Coleridge
[1770-1853] Joseph Cottle
[1745-1827] Charles Daubeny
[1753-1836] William Godwin
[Romantic] Sir Richard Hill
[1744-1833] Rowland Hill
[Romantic] Rev. C. Hoyle
[1775-1834] Charles Lamb
[1753-1839] John Lawrence
[Romantic] Mrs. Manby
[1776-1859] Sydney Owenson
[Romantic] Laetitia Pilkington
[1749-1814] Samuel Jackson Pratt
[1772-1827] Legh Richmond
[1736-1811]Percival Stockdale
[1770-1832] Priscilla Wakefield
[1759-1797] Mary Wollstonecraft
[1770-1850] William Wordsworth
[1772-1835] Thomas Young



[1807-1837] Romantic Age
Byron-Shelly-Martin's Act

Animal Welfare-Animal Rights Activists-Advocates-Quotes
Against Cruelty to Animals
[1788-1824] Lord Byron
[1824] Clergyman of England
[1754–1832] George Crabbe
[1783-1853] James L. Drummond
[1778-1865] William H. Drummond
[1750-1823] Lord Erskine
[Romantic] Rev. John Hill
[1784-1859] James Leigh Hunt
[1782-1869] William Jerdan
[Romantic] Elizabeth Kent
[1754-1834] Richard Martin
[Romantic] Thomas Moore
[1762-1816] Rene Martin Pillet
[Romantic] John Budd Pitkin
[1770-1832] James Plumptre
[1749-1814] Samuel Jackson Pratt
[1792-1822] Percy Shelley
[1767-1831] Louis Simond
[1788-1860] Arthur Schopenhauer
[1770-1832] Priscilla Wakefield
[1759-1833] William Wilberforce



Victorian Age and
Early 20th Century
1837-1945


[1837-1876] Victorian-Early
Animal Welfare-Animal Rights Activists-Advocates-Quotes
Against Cruelty to Animals
[1832-1898] Lewis Carroll
[1822-1904] Frances Power Cobbe
[1835-1918] James Drummond
[1783-1853] James L. Drummond
[1789-1860] Thomas Forster
[1823-1892] Edward Freeman
[1765-1850] Pere Girard
[1784-1859] James Leigh Hunt
[Victorian] M. T. Ingram
[1782-1869] William Jerdan
[1817-1902] James Macaulay
[1788-1860] Arthur Schopenhauer
[Victorian] Samuel Sharp
[1816-1897] Charles Vaughan
[1776-1847] William Youatt



[1876-1901] Victorian-Late
Animal Welfare-Animal Rights Activists-Advocates-Quotes
Against Cruelty to Animals
[ Victorian ] Dr. Arthur Beale
[ Victorian ] John Clarke
[1822-1904] Frances Power Cobbe
[ Victorian ] Rev. William Day
[1835-1918] James Drummond
[1831-1895] John Fox
[1823-1892] Edward Freeman
[1845-1916] Albert Leffingwell
[ Victorian ] Wilfrid Lescher
[1817-1902] James Macaulay
[1829-1888] Edward Nicholson
[1829-1888] Henry Oxenham
[1851-1939] Henry Salt
[ Victorian ] Carl Spencer
[1845-1899] Lawson Tait
[1835-1910] Mark Twain
[1837-1931] Howard Williams



[1901-1945] Early 20th C.
Animal Welfare-Animal Rights Activists-Advocates-Quotes Against Cruelty to Animals
[1854-1936] Stephen Coleridge
[1855-1943] J. Todd Ferrier
[1835-1910] Mark Twain



animal rights activists

So
Many More

Animal Welfare-Animal Rights Activists-Advocates-Authors Legislators and Educators continuing struggle for Animal Rights, Animal Welfare and Humane Education Against Cruelty to Animals can be seen throughout history in the words and actions of so many individuals. As Primary Source Historical Literature on Animal Rights, Animal Welfare & Humanity Against Cruelty to Animals is made available online, our Animal Rights Timeline, Humane Education Resource, Library-Archive of Primary Source Historical Literature will include not only the more noted events and authors of Animal Rights and the Humane Movement Against Cruelty to Animals, but lesser known advocates as well.