We The People Unit 2 Question 2

The Magna Carta does not go into depth about the rights of Englishmen, but the document does list some important rights man is born with. The rights listed in the Magna Carta are right to trial by jury, life, liberty, property, home security, limit on government’s power to tax, no freeman can be punished except through the law of the land among others.

These rights were created in 1215 when King John was in power. After a war, King John came back to England and faced many unhappy barons and noblemen. They were unhappy with his fiscal policies and his treatment of them. The Magna Carta was then created as a peace treaty, but both the King and the noblemen didn’t agree with the terms. Civil war broke out shortly afterwards, but the war ended in stalemate. The Magna Carta established that no one including the lawmaker or King is above the law. The Magna Carta was also the first document to list the rights of people and law of the land in the world. Many of the Declaration and Constitution’s principles are used from the Magna Carta.

All these events created the Magna Carta and the rights of Englishmen. The Declaration of Independence adopted the rights of Englishmen and also some of the other provisions in the Magna Carta. The rights of Englishmen are known as the traditional rights of British subjects. Although the British subjects were given rights, the people in the 13 colonies thought that their rights as Englishmen were being violated and all their thoughts were what started the American Revolution. They thought that their right to a trial by jury, life, liberty, property, home security and all the other rights of Englishmen were being violated.

Although the rights listed in the Magna Carta are limited, some provisions of the Magna Carta established those rights. One provision of the Magna Carta that established those rights is the “right to due process” or the right to a trial by jury. This means that when you need to go to court, the jury decides what happens, not the judge. The United States uses this provision in the “Due Process Clause” of Amendment 14. This clause and amendment protects the 6th Amendment which is rights related to criminal prosecutions.

Another provision of the Magna Carta that established the rights of Englishmen is the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679. This was created by the Parliament of England. This act strengthened the writ of habeas corpus which requires a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into a court. The Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 was not the origin of the writ of habeas corpus. The writ of habeas corpus was created centuries before. In Article 1 of the Constitution, this writ is known as a privilege. It is used in the U.S as well as many other countries safeguarding individual freedom against high-handed state action.

The last provision, even though there are many more, is that no freeman can be punished except through the law of the land. This provision can also be known as the “law of the land clause”. Law of the Land is a legal term and the same as the Latin word lex terrae. This refers to to ALL of the laws within a country, including statute law and common law. These are only some of the provisions in the Magna Carta that establish the rights of Englishmen.

The U.S. Constitution uses many principles from the Magna Carta. One principle from the Magna Carta that is important to the development of constitutional government is people have rights or basic rights. These rights are located everywhere within the Constitution, but most you can find in the first 10 amendments of the United States Constitution. In England, before the Magna Carta, no one except the king or queen had rights.

When the Magna Carta was created, it gave rights to all of the upper class people; rights they were born with. This is used as a founding concept in the Constitution of the U.S. except, every class of people have unalienable rights. Women and African Americans and many other ethnicities have unalienable rights and basic rights in the United States because of the Constitution.

Another principle is rule of law. Rule of law says that everyone, even the ruler is subject to the law. An ancient philosopher, Aristotle was familiar with this principle and said “Law should govern”. Aristotle meant that a ruler such as the king of England should not govern a country, but law should. The U.S. Constitution uses this principle. Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution states certain powers the president has. The president is almost our “king” but the Constitution limits his powers.

The president is Commander and Chief, has the power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the U.S. except when impeachment occurs and more. This is an example of the presidents restrictions by the Constitution. The “higher law” also known as the U.S. Constitution, controls the president’s and also controls the government’s powers. When the United States declared independence, the founding fathers did not want a monarchy or anything or anybody with absolute power.