How Did The Magna Carta Shape American Government

The Magna Carta was the most significant document in England’s history, written by the barons, which outlined rights the people wanted the king to abide by. It was signed in 1215, a time in history when human rights were not the same for everyone. The peasants felt they were unfairly treated by the king and his government. In this document, the rights of the people, the barons and the church were all outlined as well as the rights of their heirs. Together, they demanded that the king to sign this written document so that their rights as well as the rights of their heirs, would be preserved. By signing this document, everyone in government as well as the king was accountable for their action. This was a kind of protection from governmental

First, the Magna Carta is a legal document that was written in 1215. It was written to acknowledge the things the king of England was doing to abuse his power while watching the other English people suffer, and also to enforce a set of rules that everyone would have to follow.

During the time period of 1600 to 1776, the relationship between Great Britain and the colonies changed massively. The relationship between Great Britain and the colonies changed greatly because of three main reasons: the relationships that the colonies and Great Britain were built on, the struggles that the colonists faced because of their relationships with Great Britain, and the anger that the colonists expressed because of the ridiculous taxes that they had to pay. Once the colonists realized that they were suffering under British rule, most of the colonists became eager to be independent from Great Britain. The colonists’ Second Continental Congress believed that the acts and taxes created by the British Parliament were unconstitutional, unjust, and unfair towards the colonists and because of that belief, the Declaration signers forever changed our country.

In England, King John was restricting the citizens’ rights, consequently the nobles rebelled against King John. In 1215 AD, the nobles forced King John to sign a document called the “Magna Carta” (or “Great Charter” in English). The Magna Carta tried to enforce the concepts of rule of law, trial by jury, and limited government. Due process is a fair trial by your peers and a speedy trial, which makes it less likely for an unjust trial. This concept is reflected in the United States Constitution: Clause 39 of the Manga Carta states, “No free man is to be arrested, or imprisoned, or disseised, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any other way ruined, nor will we go against him or send against him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.” The Manga Carta is saying that you need to have a trial by jury. Article 2, Section 3 of the United States Constitution, the document that formed the American government, states: “The Trial of all Crimes; except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury.” The Constitution was denoting that a citizen has the right to a trial by jury, parallel to the Manga Carta. A trial by jury is an important concept in a government, because it allows people to be tried justly. If

The Magna Carta was the first document in which English subjects to force English king into power; granting and protecting the subjects’ rights. This was important since the king at

The Magna Carta was signed in 1215 by King John of England, it limited the power of the king meaning he was no longer above the law and had to follow the law. The citizens also gained some new rights, including, they can’t be charged for any crimes without a form of witness, and no new taxes without discussing with the people about it. The document made a influenced the modern day common law and many constitutional documents, including the United States Constitution.

Charlemagne merged power into a centralized government and entailed men to take an oath(Frankpledge). The Frankpledge is made of social control reinforced by oath to obey the law of the land. Today, in Law Enforcement agencies are officers are required to take an oath, and the Federal government unites law enforcement agencies. The Magna Carter was in introduced in England in 1215. The document limited the king’s power and gave the citizens of England certain rights. This document would be similar to the Constitution that officers swear to uphold of each citizen.(Conser, J., Paynich, R., & Gingerich, T. 2013 pages 34,

In the chapter Kings, Parliament, and Inherited Rights, starts off with the quote about the revolution. The revolution was in the mind and the hearts of people, a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. The evolution of the revolution began was an argument over rights that changed into struggle for power of each party to assert their rights as it understood them, then afterward struggle for empire as Americans began to conceive a more ambitious and independent course for themselves. Americans believe that legally of all parliamentary statutes was measured against the constitution; on that basis, being unrepresented in Parliament, they denied the rights of the body to tax them directly according to the principles of constitutional law. A particular act focused on in the chapter is the Stamp Act, which imposed a stamp tax ranging from one shilling to six on various commercial and legal documents such as wills, mortgages, and college degrees, as well as on newspapers, almanacs, calendars, pamphlets, playing cards and dice. Also the Trade and Navigation Acts was a parliamentary revenue raised in America would make England governors and their appointees independent of local pressure and more faithful enforcing British statutes. These made the colonies more united. Colonies wanted to distance

Everyone is created equal in the eyes of the Declaration of Independence, but before this document was even thought about, this was not the case for colonist in the New World. They didn’t have an enemy like the indians, they were up against themselves in the New World, their own King. Many people came to the New World hoping for freedom and independence, but they realized once they got there that this new world was far from being the land they were promised and they land they hoped to get away from. Many things caused new colonist to revolt, including English traditions, enlightenment ideas about rights and government, and what the King did to anger the colonist. It was these reason they decided to start a revolution, the American Revolution.

The Magna Carta laid down the foundation for democracy because it was the beginning of

The new King attempted to create the Dominion of New England, which was planned to organize the northern colonies into a one large province and then to be ruled by a “royal appointee”. Yet, it had failed to be put into action. This, and the events happening in England, would lead to the Glorious Revolution following a few years later. The Glorious Revolution had rejected James II’s authority and after the overthrow of his authority the northern colonies were free from the Dominion of New England. The new King (William) seemed to have no interest in the colonies and left them to fend for themselves, which allowed the colonies to self-govern. The Bill of Rights, which Parliament had passed in 1689, would later on be a model of how the colonies would rule

As time progressed and colonists in America continued to receive full rights of an Englishman and even more freedom, by giving settlers a taste of for self-government, England’s lax rule over Jamestown would backfire against her future attempts to tighten her control on America in 1750. In fact, the Charter of Liberties foreshadows what colonists soon expected of government rule. Written in 1701, the Charter of Liberties established a representative assembly of one house, limiting the authority of Pennsylvania’s proprietor. (This can be paralleled to creating a democracy to eliminate the power of a dictator or a monarch…) Even lower counties in

One of the first times the people successfully rebelled against the monarch was during King John I’s reign. Forcing King John to sign the Magna Carta was a way the people maneuvered their rebellion without an adequate substitute for King (“Social”). In the Magna Carta it underlies, “all the Clauses are based on the idea that there is a right way of doing things, enshrined in the Magna Cart, as the law of the land. And the most important thing was that it bound both king and subject together” (“The Devil’s”). The Magna Carta was a way for the people to publically state their independence and their freedom from the

It was easy for the colonists to work around the law, but England did nothing to stop it because trade deals were still happening, and everyone was still making money. This caused Americans to think of their government as equally as powerful as the British bureaucracy. England lost major control over the colonies during the Tradition of Neglect, but they didn’t do anything to stop it. Even though the colonies still considered themselves a part of the British Empire, people understood that they could lead themselves.

Charles I of England, the king tried for treason and beheaded in 1649, was constantly in some type of conflict with Parliament. During his entire reign there never was a time of peace in England. Though Charles I did inherit some of his troubles from England’s prior monarchs, the mass of his problems came from his actions and disposition towards Parliament. Through an examination of Charles I’s reign, one can see the choices Charles had and made, and how he could have prevented the English Civil War.