Mrs. Hearn
English IV
22 November 2016
Magna Carta, the Start of Constitutional Government
The Magna Carta is an ancient document that was signed at Runnymede on June 15, 1215. King John of England signed the after he was forced to sign the document by his barons who had had enough of his tyrannical rule. The document puts a check on the power of kings and rulers like King John. Under the Magna Carta, kings and other rulers are treated as citizens like anyone else under and restricted by the law. The Magna Carta also defines the basis for a constitutional government. The document is the inspiration for the organization of America’s government system. The Magna Carta is known as the document created to protect the freedoms …show more content…
When it was written, the Magna Carta consisted of around 4,000 words, 63 clauses. It covered a multitude of problems, from giving the church more freedoms from interference by the government to placing limitations on military spending and taxes that John placed on his nobles, as well as many other problems. Though the document was designed for the era of its original signing, it sets the premise for all future government in England, and as well inspires American government, by placing the law above any sort of monarch or ruler without exception. The Magna Carta puts the law and justice above any form of government, especially in clauses 39 and 40 that state “no free man is to be arrested or imprisoned or stripped of his possessions or outlawed or exiled or in any other way ruined, nor will we go or send against him except by the legal judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or justice.” …show more content…
The document is even the inspiration for the organization of America’s constitutional government system. Under a constitution, all people are under and subject to the law. While it limits the powers of rulers and governments, it also gives power to the people under the government. Several articles in the document state that certain processes like taxation must instead of being approved by a monarch, must be reviewed, and accepted by a common counsel. This is how the Magna Carta is the first step towards the establishment of Parliament in England and subsequently, congress and the supreme court in America. It is also the origin of the rallying cry of the American revolution, no taxation without