Hammurabi's Legacy
Despite being made for the Babylonians, Hammurabi's Code was used long after the fall of the Babylonian empire. This would have been because of the code's simple, yet specific laws. Changes did come. Other rulers did change laws and did affect the history and evolution of law, but none did it as significantly as Hammurabi. Hammurabi's laws may not be used today, but his basic ideas are.
Laws today are made to work for a large group of people with different beliefs. America includes more religions that are even more different than the ones in Babylon. The fact is, every state in America has most of the same laws. If it weren't for Hammurabi we might be divided into groups by religion with different sets of laws, like the civilizations were before Hammurabi's Code. That is why our government is not partial to religion and doesn't include religion in their government. They are keeping laws simple and specific like Hammurabi's. People obviously care more about laws today then they did in Mesopotamia, where their major concern was having enough water to keep their crops alive. That caused a change in punishments. Nobody today could think of being put to death for breaking a law. This would be because of fear. In democracy, people have a say in things, and if they can break a law without dying, they would change the punishment for breaking that law. Here is a comparison on what is considered fair.
Laws today are made to work for a large group of people with different beliefs. America includes more religions that are even more different than the ones in Babylon. The fact is, every state in America has most of the same laws. If it weren't for Hammurabi we might be divided into groups by religion with different sets of laws, like the civilizations were before Hammurabi's Code. That is why our government is not partial to religion and doesn't include religion in their government. They are keeping laws simple and specific like Hammurabi's. People obviously care more about laws today then they did in Mesopotamia, where their major concern was having enough water to keep their crops alive. That caused a change in punishments. Nobody today could think of being put to death for breaking a law. This would be because of fear. In democracy, people have a say in things, and if they can break a law without dying, they would change the punishment for breaking that law. Here is a comparison on what is considered fair.