Magna+Carta

=Magna Carta=

The Magna Carta was created in 1215 to seek protection against the acts of the King of England. It was the first document forced by the people on the king to sign. It included simple rights such as trial by jury and keeping life, liberty and property. At first, the document was proposed for only the privileged people of England, but eventually it became the rights for all people. The Magna Carta essentially established that the power of the monarchy was not absolute.
 * Background**

This is a picture of one of the four remaining examplifications of the Magna Carta. It was written in iron gall ink on parchment in medieval Latin, using standard abbreviations of the period. The document was authenticated with the Great Seal of King John; the original wax seal has been lost over the centuries. This document is held at the British Library.

This is an illustration of King John of England signing the Magna Carta. It can be found in the book //Cassell's History of England//, written in 1902.

Included in the Magna Carta were laws about our basic rights and what the government cannot take away from the people, which were also set forth and established in the declaration.
 * Contribuitions**

One of the main concerns of the people of the Free states was that of a ruler being above the law, so they incorporated this into the declaration. This was a concept which is known as the rule of law and dates back to the Magna Carta

The Magna Carta also took away a lot of excess power that the king had, which is something that the writers of the declaration stated was a problem with the king of Britain.

The right to go against the ruler and over-throw him if he went against the written laws and abused the people was something that was stated in the declaration as well as was the primary reason for the creation of the declaration.

“ [|To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay right or justice.] ”
 * Relavent Quotes:**

In chapter 39 of the Magna Carta, King John promised not to destroy or take away a man’s freedom or take away his property “except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.” The phrase “by the law of the land” that is implying that the government has to obey the law just like the governed.

Lord Denning described the Magna Carta as "the greatest constitutional document of all times – the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot.”

"The barons shall choose any twenty-five barons of the realm they wish, who with all their might are to observe, maintain and cause to be observed the peace and liberties which we have granted and confirmed to them by this our present charter".
 * Bibliography **

"Magna Carta 1215." //Middle Ages//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. [].

"Magna Carta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Carta>.

McClenaghan, William A., and Frank Abbott Magruder. //Magruder's American government//. 2002 ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2002. Print. //We the people: the citizen & the Constitution. //. Washington DC: Center For Civic Education, 2009. Print. By: Kyle Honeck, Annie Carr, Austin Myers, and Mike Yarcho