Hammurabi's Laws Dbq Essay

Man did a crime and was punished. This seems pretty basic, this is how we do things today. Many decades ago a ruler named Hammurabi created a set of laws that did the same thing, unfortunately they are viewed as unfair or too harsh. This paper plans to prove that Hammurabi’s laws are in fact fair and needed.

Law 129 (located in Document C) supports that Hammurabi’s laws are fair to society, because they make sure everyone acts civilized. If this law didn’t exist people would feel free to have intercourse with people other than his or her spouse, which could also lead to over population; along with interbreeding between the well-defined social classes that were needed during that time in Babylon. Some may use the excuse that love should be unpunished. However, they seem to forget that the person, the accused, was already married, and found love. A person should love his or her spouse, without the law cheating on one’s spouse would be more common, and would lead to heartache from the victim if he or she found out. Hammurabi’s laws are fair to the accused. Those who break a law deserve to be punished for the crime they committed. Law 54/54 (located in Document D) gives a lazy man, who has caused damage to another’s property, consciences for his crime. The man is to give up his crops to replace those that were damaged.

Law 23 (located in Document D) gives the victims a sense of safety since the criminal is off the streets. The family now would know that the accused has learned his lesson, and wont strike again. Sadly some may say that this law is too harsh. I believe that this law is not harsh, because the accused is being punished on the area where he or she did the crime, he/she could have scared the family and forced them into a life of fear. The accused basically ruined the family’s lives, and one life crime isn’t equivalent to multiple lives of what was once