Before penning
the Declaration of Independence--the first of the American Charters of
Freedom--in 1776, the Founding Fathers searched for a historical precedent for
asserting their rightful liberties from King George III and the English
Parliament. They found it in a gathering that took place 561 years earlier on
the plains of Runnymede, not far from where Windsor Castle stands today. There,
on June 15, 1215, an assembly of barons confronted a despotic and cash-strapped
King John and demanded that traditional rights be recognized, written down,
confirmed with the royal seal, and sent to each of the counties to be read to
all freemen. The result was Magna Carta--a momentous achievement for the English
barons and, nearly six centuries later, an inspiration for angry American
colonists.
Magna Carta was the result of the Angevin
king's disastrous foreign policy and overzealous financial administration. John
had suffered a staggering blow the previous year, having lost an important
battle to King Philip II at Bouvines and with it all hope of regaining the
French lands he had inherited. When the defeated John returned from the
Continent, he attempted to rebuild his coffers by demanding scutage (a fee paid
in lieu of military service) from the barons who had not joined his war with
Philip. The barons in question, predominantly lords of northern estates,
protested, condemning John's policies and insisting on a reconfirmation of Henry
I's Coronation Oath (1100), which would, in theory, limit the king's ability to
obtain funds. (As even Henry ignored the provisions of this charter, however, a
reconfirmation would not necessarily guarantee fewer taxes.) But John refused to
withdraw his demands, and by spring most baronial families began to take sides.
The rebelling barons soon faltered before John's superior resources, but with
the unexpected capture of London, they earned a substantial bargaining chip.
John agreed to grant a charter.
The document conceded by John and set with
his seal in 1215, however, was not what we know today as Magna Carta but rather
a set of baronial stipulations, now lost, known as the "Articles of the barons."
After John and his barons agreed on the final provisions and additional wording
changes, they issued a formal version on June 19, and it is this document that
came to be known as Magna Carta. Of great significance to future generations was
a minor wording change, the replacement of the term "any baron" with "any
freeman" in stipulating to whom the provisions applied. Over time, it would help
justify the application of the Charter's provisions to a greater part of the
population. While freemen were a minority in 13th-century England, the term
would eventually include all English, just as "We the People" would come to
apply to all Americans in this century.
While Magna Carta would one day become a
basic document of the British Constitution, democracy and universal protection
of ancient liberties were not among the barons' goals. The Charter was a feudal
document and meant to protect the rights and property of the few powerful
families that topped the rigidly structured feudal system. In fact, the majority
of the population, the thousands of unfree laborers, are only mentioned once, in
a clause concerning the use of court-set fines to punish minor offenses. Magna
Carta's primary purpose was restorative: to force King John to recognize the
supremacy of ancient liberties, to limit his ability to raise funds, and to
reassert the principle of "due process." Only a final clause, which created an
enforcement council of tenants-in-chief and clergymen, would have severely
limited the king's power and introduced something new to English law: the
principle of "majority rule." But majority rule was an idea whose time had not
yet come; in September, at John's urging, Pope Innocent II annulled the
"shameful and demeaning agreement, forced upon the king by violence and fear."
The civil war that followed ended only with John's death in October
1216.
On indefinite loan from the Perot Foundation, a 1297
version of Magna Carta shares space with the Charters of Freedom in the National
Archives Rotunda.
To gain support for the new
monarch--John's 9-year-old son, Henry III--the young king's regents reissued the
charter in 1217. Neither this version nor that issued by Henry when he assumed
personal control of the throne in 1225 were exact duplicates of John's charter;
both lacked some provisions, including that providing for the enforcement
council, found in the original. With the 1225 issuance, however, the evolution
of the document ended. While English monarchs, including Henry, confirmed Magna
Carta several times after this, each subsequent issue followed the form of this
"final" version. With each confirmation, copies of the document were made and
sent to the counties so that everyone would know their rights and obligations.
Of these original issues of Magna Carta, 17 survive: 4 from the reign of John; 8
from that of Henry III; and 5 from Edward I, including the version now on
display at the National Archives.
Although tradition and interpretation
would one day make Magna Carta a document of great importance to both England
and the American colonies, it originally granted concessions to few but the
powerful baronial families. It did include concessions to the Church, merchants,
townsmen, and the lower aristocracy for their aid in the rebellion, but the
majority of the English population would remain without an active voice in
government for another 700 years.
Despite its historical significance,
however, Magna Carta may have remained legally inconsequential had it not been
resurrected and reinterpreted by Sir Edward Coke in the early 17th century.
Coke, Attorney General for Elizabeth, Chief Justice during the reign of James,
and a leader in Parliament in opposition to Charles I, used Magna Carta as a
weapon against the oppressive tactics of the Stuart kings. Coke argued that even
kings must comply to common law. As he proclaimed to Parliament in 1628, "Magna
Carta . . . will have no sovereign."
Lord Coke's view of the law was particularly relevant to
the American experience for it was during this period that the charters for the
colonies were written. Each included the guarantee that those sailing for the
New World and their heirs would have "all the rights and immunities of free and
natural subjects." As our forefathers developed legal codes for the colonies,
many incorporated liberties guaranteed by Magna Carta and the 1689 English Bill
of Rights directly into their own statutes. Although few colonists could afford
legal training in England, they remained remarkably familiar with English common
law. During one parliamentary debate in the late 18th century, Edmund Burke
observed, "In no country, perhaps in the world, is law so general a study."
Through Coke, whose four-volume Institutes of the Laws of England was widely
read by American law students, young colonists such as John Adams, Thomas
Jefferson, and James Madison learned of the spirit of the charter and the common
law--or at least Coke's interpretation of them. Later, Jefferson would write to
Madison of Coke: "a sounder whig never wrote, nor of profounder learning in the
orthodox doctrines of the British constitution, or in what were called English
liberties." It is no wonder then that as the colonists prepared for war they
would look to Coke and Magna Carta for justification.
By the 1760s the colonists had come to
believe that in America they were creating a place that adopted the best of the
English system but adapted it to new circumstances; a place where a person could
rise by merit, not birth; a place where men could voice their opinions and
actively share in self-government. But these beliefs were soon tested. Following
the costly Seven Years' War, Great Britain was burdened with substantial debts
and the continuing expense of keeping troops on American soil. Parliament
thought the colonies should finance much of their own defense and levied the
first direct tax, the Stamp Act, in 1765. As a result, virtually every
document--newspapers, licenses, insurance policies, legal writs, even playing
cards--would have to carry a stamp showing that required taxes had been paid.
The colonists rebelled against such control over their daily affairs. Their own
elected legislative bodies had not been asked to consent to the Stamp Act. The
colonists argued that without either this local consent or direct representation
in Parliament, the act was "taxation without representation." They also objected
to the law's provision that those who disobeyed could be tried in admiralty
courts without a jury of their peers. Coke's influence on Americans showed
clearly when the Massachusetts Assembly reacted by declaring the Stamp Act
"against the Magna Carta and the natural rights of Englishmen, and therefore,
according to Lord Coke, null and void."
But regardless of whether the charter forbade taxation
without representation or if this was merely implied by the "spirit," the
colonists used this "misinterpretation" to condemn the Stamp Act. To defend
their objections, they turned to a 1609 or 1610 defense argument used by Coke:
superiority of the common law over acts of Parliament. Coke claimed "When an act
of parliament is against common right or reason, or repugnant, or impossible to
be performed, the common law will control it and adjudge such an act void.
Because the Stamp Act seemed to tread on the concept of consensual taxation, the
colonists believed it, "according to Lord Coke," invalid.
The colonists were enraged. Benjamin
Franklin and others in England eloquently argued the American case, and
Parliament quickly rescinded the bill. But the damage was done; the political
climate was changing. As John Adams later wrote to Thomas Jefferson, "The
Revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected, from 1760 to
1775, in the course of 15 years before a drop of blood was shed at
Lexington."
Relations between Great Britain and the
colonies continued to deteriorate. The more Parliament tried to raise revenue
and suppress the growing unrest, the more the colonists demanded the charter
rights they had brought with them a century and a half earlier. At the height of
the Stamp Act crisis, William Pitt proclaimed in Parliament, "The Americans are
the sons not the bastards of England." Parliament and the Crown, however,
appeared to believe otherwise. But the Americans would have their rights, and
they would fight for them. The seal adopted by Massachusetts on the eve of the
Revolution summed up the mood--a militiaman with sword in one hand and Magna
Carta in the other.
Armed resistance broke out in April 1775.
Fifteen months later, the final break was made with the immortal words of the
Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of
Happiness." Although the colonies had finally and irrevocably articulated their
goal, Independence did not come swiftly. Not until the surrender of British
forces at Yorktown in 1781 was the military struggle won. The constitutional
battle, however, was just beginning.
In the war's aftermath, many Americans
recognized that the rather loose confederation of states would have to be
strengthened if the new nation were to survive. James Madison expressed these
concerns in a call for a convention at Philadelphia in 1787 to revise the
Articles of Confederation: "The good people of America are to decide the solemn
question, whether they will by wise and magnanimous efforts reap the just fruits
of that Independence which they so gloriously acquired . . . or whether by
giving way to unmanly jealousies and prejudices, or to partial and transitory
interests, they will renounce the auspicious blessings prepared for them by the
Revolution." The representatives of the states listened to Madison and drew
heavily from his ideas. Instead of revising the Articles, they created a new
form of government, embodied in the Constitution of the United States. Authority
emanated directly from the people, not from any governmental body. And the
Constitution would be "the supreme Law of the Land"--just as Magna Carta had
been deemed superior to other statutes.
In 1215, when King John confirmed Magna
Carta with his seal, he was acknowledging the now firmly embedded concept that
no man--not even the king--is above the law. That was a milestone in
constitutional thought for the 13th century and for centuries to come. In 1779
John Adams expressed it this way: "A government of laws, and not of men."
Further, the charter established important individual rights that have a direct
legacy in the American Bill of Rights. And during the United States' history,
these rights have been expanded. The U.S. Constitution is not a static document.
Like Magna Carta, it has been interpreted and reinterpreted throughout the
years. This has allowed the Constitution to become the longest-lasting
constitution in the world and a model for those penned by other nations. Through
judicial review and amendment, it has evolved so that today
Americans--regardless of gender, race, or creed--can enjoy the liberties and
protection it guarantees. Just as Magna Carta stood as a bulwark against tyranny
in England, the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights today serve similar roles,
protecting the individual freedoms of all Americans against arbitrary and
capricious rule.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Magna
Carta Translation A translation of Magna Carta as confirmed by Edward I with
his seal in 1297
[Preamble] EDWARD by the grace of
God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Guyan, to all Archbishops,
Bishops, etc. We have seen the Great Charter of the Lord HENRY, sometimes King
of England, our father, of the Liberties of England, in these words: Henry by
the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Guyan,
and Earl of Anjou, to all Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Priors, Earls, Barons,
Sheriffs, Provosts, Officers, and to all Bailiffs and other our faithful
Subjects , which shall see this present Charter, Greeting. Know ye that we, unto
the honour of Almighty God, and for the salvation of the souls of our
progenitors and successors, Kings of England, to the advancement of holy Church,
and amendment of our Realm, of our meer and free will, have given and granted to
all Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Priors, Earls, Barons, and to all freemen of
this our realm, these liberties following, to be kept in our kingdom of England
for ever.
[1] First, We have granted to God,
and by this our present Charter have confirmed, for us and our Heirs for ever,
That the Church of England shall be free, and shall have her whole rights and
liberties inviolable. We have granted also, and given to all the freemen of our
realm, for us and our Heirs for ever, these liberties underwritten, to have and
to hold to them and their Heirs, of us and our Heirs for
ever.
[2] If any of our Earls or Barons,
or any other, which holdeth of Us in chief by Knights service, shall die and at
the time of his death his heir be of full age, and oweth us Relief, he shall
have his inheritance by the old Relief; that is to say, the heir or heirs of an
Earl, for a whole Earldom, by one hundred pound; the heir or heirs of a Baron,
for an whole Barony, by one hundred marks; the heir or heirs of a Knight, for
one whole Knights fee, one hundred shillings at the most; and he that hath less,
shall give less, according to the custom of the fees.
[3] But if the Heir of any such be
within age, his Lord shall not have the ward of him, nor of his land, before
that he hath taken him homage. And after that such an heir hath been in ward
(when he is come of full age) that is to say, to the age of one and twenty
years, he shall have his inheritance without Relief, and without Fine; so that
if such an heir, being within age, be made Knight, yet nevertheless his land
shall remain in the keeping of his Lord unto the term
aforesaid.
[4] The keeper of the land of such
an heir, being within age, shall not take of the lands of the heir, but
reasonable issues, reasonable customs, and reasonable servics, and that without
destruction and waste of his men and goods. And if we commit the custody of any
such land to the Sheriff, or to any other, which is answerable unto us for the
issues of the same land, and he make destruction or waste of those things that
he hath in custody, we will take of him amends and recompence therefore, and the
land shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that fee, which shall
answer unto us for the issues of the same land, or unto him whom we will assign.
And if we give or sell to any man the custody of any such land, and he therein
do make destruction or waste, he shall lose the same custody; and it shall be
assigned to two lawful and discreet men of that fee, which also in like manner
shall be answerable to us, as afore is said.
[5] The keeper, so long as he hath
the custody of the land of such an heir, shall keep up the houses, parks,
warrens, ponds, mills, and other things pertaining to the same land, with the
issues of the said land; and he shall deliver to the Heir, when he cometh to his
full age, all his land stored with ploughs, and all other things, at the least
as he received it. All these things shall be observed in the custodies of the
Archbishopricks, Bishopricks, Abbeys, Priories, Churchs, and Dignities vacant,
which appertain to us; except this, that such custody shall not be
sold.
[6] Heirs shall be married without
Disparagement.
[7] A Widow, after the death of
her husband, incontinent, and without any Difficulty, shall have her marriage
and her inheritance, and shall give nothing for her dower, her marriage, or her
inheritance, which her husband and she held the day of the death of her husband,
and she shall tarry in the chief house of her husband by forty days after the
death of her husband, within which days her dower shall be assigned her (if it
were not assigned her before) or that the house be a castle; and if she depart
from the castle, then a competent house shall be forthwith provided for her, in
the which she may honestly dwell, until her dower be to her assigned, as it is
aforesaid; and she shall have in the meantime her reasonable estovers of the
common; and for her do wer shall be assigned unto her the third part of all the
lands of her husband, which were his during coverture, except she were endowed
of less at the Church-door. No widow shall be distrained to marry herself:
nevertheless she shall find surety, that she shall not marry without our licence
and assent (if she hold of us) nor without the assent of the Lord, if she hold
of another.
[8] We or our Bailiffs shall not
seize any land or rent for any debt, as long as the present Goods and Chattels
of the debtor do suffice to pay the debt, and the debtor himself be ready to
satisfy therefore. Neither shall the pledges of the debtor be dist rained, as
long as the principal debtor is sufficient for the payment of the debt. And if
the principal debtor fail in the payment of the debt, having nothing wherewith
to pay, or will not pay where he is able, the pledges shall answer for the debt.
And if they will, they shall have the lands and rents of the debtor, until they
be satished of that which they before paid for him, except that the debtor can
show himself to be acquitted against the said sureties.
[9] The city of London shall have
all the old liberties and customs, which it hath been used to have. Moreover we
will and grant, that all other Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and the Barons of the
Five Ports, and all other Ports, shall have all their liberties and free
customs.
[10] No man shall be distrained to
do more service for a Knights fee, nor any freehold, than therefore is
due.
[11] Common Pleas shall not follow
our Court, but shall be holden in some place certain.
[12] Assises of novel disseisin,
and of Mortdancestor, shall not be taken but in the shires, and after this
manner: If we be out of this Realm, our chief Justicer shall send our Justicers
through every County once in the Year, which, with the Knights of the shires,
shall take the said Assises in those counties; and those things that at the
coming of our foresaid Justicers, being sent to take those Assises in the
counties, cannot be determined, shall be ended by them in some other place in
their circuit; and those things, which for difficulty of some articles cannot be
determined by them, shall be referred to our Justicers of the Bench, and there
shall be ended.
[13] Assises of Darrein
Presentment shall be alway taken before our Justices of the Bench, and there
shall be determined.
[14] A Freeman shall not be
amerced for a small fault, but after the manner of the fault; and for a great
fault after the greatness thereof, saving to him his contenement; and a Merchant
likewise, saving to him his Merchandise; and any other's villain than ours shall
be likewise amerced, saving his wainage, if he falls into our mercy. And none of
the said amerciaments shall be assessed, but by the oath of honest and lawful
men of the vicinage. Earls and Barons shall not be amerced but by their Peers,
and after the manner of their offence. No man of the Church shall be amerced
after the quantity of his spiritual Benefice, but after his Lay-tenement, and
after the quantity of his offence.
[15] No Town or Freeman shall be
distrained to make Bridges nor Banks, but such as of old time and of right have
been accustomed to make them in the time of King Henry our
Grandfather.
[16] No Banks shall be defended
from henceforth, but such as were in defence in the time of King Henry our
Grandfather, by the same places, and the same bounds, as they were wont to be in
his time.
[17] No Sheriff, Constable,
Escheator, Coroner, nor any other our Bailiffs, shall hold Pleas of our
Crown.
[18] If any that holdeth of us
Lay-fee do die, and our Sheriff or Bailiff do show our Letters Patents of our
summon for Debt, which the dead man did owe to us; it shall be lawful to our
Sheriff or Bailiff to attach or inroll all the goods and chattels of the dead,
being found in the said fee, to the Value of the same Debt, by the sight and
testimony of lawful men, so that nothing thereof shall be taken away, until we
be clearly paid off the debt; and the residue shall remain to the Executors to
perform the testament of the dead; and if nothing be owing unto us, all the
chattels shall go to the use of the dead (saving to his wife and children their
reasonable parts).
[19] No Constable, nor his
Bailiff, shall take corn or other chattels of any man, if the man be not of the
Town where the Castle is, but he shall forthwith pay for the same, unless that
the will of the seller was to respite the payment; and if he be of the same
Town, the price shall be paid unto him within forty days.
[20] No Constable shall distrain
any Knight to give money for keeping of his Castle, if he himself will do it in
his proper person, or cause it to be done by another sufficient man, if he may
not do it himself for a reasonable cause. And if we lead or send him to an army,
he shall be free from Castle-ward for the time that he shall be with us in fee
in our host, for the which he hath done service in our wars.
[21] No Sheriff nor Bailiff of
ours, or any other, shall take the Horses or Carts of any man to make carriage,
except he pay the old price limited, that is to say, for carriage with two
horse, x.d. a day; for three horse, xiv.d. a day. No demesne Cart of any
Spiritual person or Knight, or any Lord, shall be taken by our Bailiffs; nor we,
nor our Bailiffs, nor any other, shall take any man's wood for our Castles, or
other our necessaries to be done, but by the licence of him whose wood it shall
be.
[22] We will not hold the Lands of
them that be convict of Felony but one year and one day, and then those Lands
shall be delivered to the Lords of the fee.
[23] All Wears from henceforth
shall be utterly put down by Thames and Medway, and through all England, but
only by the Sea-coasts.
[24] The Writ that is called
Praecipe in capite shall be from henceforth granted to no person of any
freehold, whereby any freeman may lose his Court.
[25] One measure of Wine shall be
through our Realm, and one measure of Ale, and one measure of Corn, that is to
say, the Quarter of London; and one breadth of dyed Cloth, Russets, and
Haberjects, that is to say, two Yards within the lists. And it shall be of
Weights as it is of Measures.
[26] Nothing from henceforth shall
be given for a Writ of Inquisition, nor taken of him that prayeth Inquisition of
Life, or of Member, but it shall be granted freely, and not
denied.
[27] If any do hold of us by
Fee-ferm, or by Socage, or Burgage, and he holdeth Lands of another by Knights
Service, we will not have the Custody of his Heir, nor of his Land, which is
holden of the Fee of another, by reason of that Fee-ferm, Socage, or Burgage.
Neither will we have the custody of such Fee-ferm, or Socage, or Burgage, except
Knights Service be due unto us out of the same Fee-ferm. We will not have the
custody of the Heir, or of any Land, by occasion of any Petit Serjeanty, that
any man holdeth of us by Service to pay a Knife, an Arrow, or the
like.
[28] No Bailiff from henceforth
shall put any man to his open Law, nor to an Oath, upon his own bare saying,
without faithful Witnesses brought in for the same.
[29] No Freeman shall be taken, or
imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or
be outlawed, or exiled, or any otherwise destroyed; nor will we pass upon him,
nor condemn him, but by lawful Judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the Land.
We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or
Right.
[30] All Merchants (if they were
not openly prohibited before) shall have their safe and sure Conduct to depart
out of England, to come into England, to tarry in, and go through England, as
well by Land as by Water, to buy and sell without any manner of evil Tolts, by
the old and rightful Customs, except in Time of War. And if they be of a land
making War against us, and such be found in our Realm at the beginning of the
Wars, they shall be attached without harm of body or goods, until it be known
unto us , or our Chief Justice, how our Merchants be intreated there in the land
making War against us; and if our Merchants be well intreated there, theirs
shall be likewise with us.
[31] If any man hold of any
Eschete, as of the honour of Wallingford, Nottingham, Boloin, or of any other
Eschetes which be in our hands, and are Baronies, and die, his Heir shall give
none other Relief, nor do none other Service to us, than he should to the Baron,
if it were in the Baron's hand. And we in the same wise shall hold it as the
Baron held it; neither shall we have, by occasion of any such Barony or Eschete,
any Eschete or keeping of any of our men, unless he that held the Barony or
Eschete hold of us in chief.
[32] No Freeman from henceforth
shall give or sell any more of his Land, but so that of the residue of the Lands
the Lord of the Fee may have the Service due to him, which belongeth to the
Fee.
[33] All Patrons of Abbies, which
have the King's Charters of England of Advowson, or have old Tenure or
Possession in the same, shall have the Custody of them when they fall void, as
it hath been accustomed, and as it is afore declared.
[34] No Man shall be taken or
imprisoned upon the Appeal of a Woman for the Death of any other, than of her
husband.
[35] No County Court from
henceforth shall be holden, but from Month to Month; and where greater time hath
been used, there shall be greater: Nor any Sheriff, or his Bailiff, shall keep
his Turn in the Hundred but twice in the Year; and nowhere but in due place, and
accustomed; that is to say, once after Easter, and again after the Feast of St.
Michael. And the View of Frankpledge shall be likewise at the Feast of St.
Michael without occasion; so that every man may have his Liberties which he had,
or used to have, in the time of King HENRY our Grandfather, or which he hath
purchased since: but the View of Frankpledge shall be so done, that our Peace
may be kept; and that the Tything be wholly kept as it hath been accustomed; and
that the Sheriff seek no Occasions, and that he be content with so much as the
Sheriff was wont to have for his Viewmaking in the time of King HENRY our
Grandfather.
[36] It shall not be lawful from
henceforth to any to give his Lands to any Religious House, and to take the same
Land again to hold of the same House. Nor shall it be lawful to any House of
Religion to take the Lands of any, and to lease the same to him of whom he
received it. If any from henceforth give his Lands to any Religious House, and
thereupon be convict, the Gift shall be utterly void, and the Land shall accrue
to the Lord of the Fee.
[37] Escuage from henceforth shall
be taken like as it was wont to be in the time of King HENRY our Grandfather;
reserving to all Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Priors, Templers, Hospitallers,
Earls, Barons, and all persons, as well Spiritual as Temporal, all their free
liberties and free Customs, which they have had in time passed. And all these
Customs and Liberties aforesaid, which we have granted to be holden within this
our Realm, as much as appertaineth to us and our Heirs, we shall observe; and
all Men of this our Realm, as well Spiritual as Temporal (as much as in them is)
shall observe the same against all persons in like wise. And for this our Gift
and Grant of these Liberties, and of other contained in our Charter of Liberties
of our Forest, the Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Priors, Earls, Barons, Knights,
Freeholders, and other our Subjects, have given unto us the Fifteenth Part of
all their Moveables. And we have granted unto them for us and our Heirs, that
neither we, nor our Heirs shall proc ure or do anything whereby the Liberties in
this Charter contained shall be infringed or broken; and if anything be procured
by any person contrary to the premisses, it shall be had of no force nor effect.
These being Witnesses; Lord B. Archbishop of Cant erbury, E. Bishop of London,
J. Bishop of Bathe, P. of Winchester, H. of Lincoln, R. of Salisbury, W. of
Rochester, W. of Worester, J. of Ely, H. of Hereford, R. of Chichester, W. of
Exeter, Bishops; the Abbot of St. Edmunds, the Abbot of St. Albans, the Abbot of
Bello, the Abbot of St. Augustines in Canterbury, the Abbot of Evesham, the
Abbot of Westminster, the Abbot of Bourgh St. Peter, the Abbot of Reading, the
Abbot of Abindon, the Abbot of Malmsbury, the Abbot of Winchcomb, the Abbot of
Hyde, the Abbot of Certefey, the Abbot of Sherburn, the Abbot of Cerne, the
Abbot of Abbotebir, the Abbot of Middleton, the Abbot of Seleby, the Abbot of
Cirencester; H. de Burgh Justice, H. Earl of Chester and Lincoln, W. Earl of
Salisbury, W. Earl of Warren, G. de Clare Earl of Gloucester and Hereford, W. de
Ferrars Earl of Derby, W. de Mandeville Earl of Essex, H. de Bygod Earl of
Norfolk, W. Earl of Albermarle, H. Earl of Hereford, J. Constable of Chester, R.
de Ros, R. Fitzwalter, R. de Vyponte, W. de Bruer, R. de Muntefichet, P.
Fitzherbert, W. de Aubenie, F. Grefly, F. de Breus, J. de Monemue, J. Fitzallen,
H. de Mortimer, W. de Beauchamp, W. de St. John, P. de Mauly, Brian de Lisle,
Thomas de Multon, R. de Argenteyn, G. de Nevil, W. de Mauduit, J. de Balun, and
others.
We, ratifying
and approving these Gifts and Grants aforesaid, confirm and make strong all the
same for us and our Heirs perpetually, and, by the Tenour of these Presents, do
renew the same; willing and granting for us and our Heirs, that this Charter,
and all and singular his Articles, for ever shall be stedfastly, firmly, and
inviolably observed; although some Articles in the same Charter contained, yet
hitherto peradventure have not been kept, we will, and by Authority Royal
command, from henceforth firmly they be observed. In witness whereof we have
caused these our Letters Patents to be made. T. EDWARD our Son at Westminster,
the Twenty-eighth Day of March, in the Twenty-eighth Year of our
Reign.
Before penning
the Declaration of Independence--the first of the American Charters of
Freedom--in 1776, the Founding Fathers searched for a historical precedent for
asserting their rightful liberties from King George III and the English
Parliament. They found it in a gathering that took place 561 years earlier on
the plains of Runnymede, not far from where Windsor Castle stands today. There,
on June 15, 1215, an assembly of barons confronted a despotic and cash-strapped
King John and demanded that traditional rights be recognized, written down,
confirmed with the royal seal, and sent to each of the counties to be read to
all freemen. The result was Magna Carta--a momentous achievement for the English
barons and, nearly six centuries later, an inspiration for angry American
colonists. 
On indefinite loan from the Perot Foundation, a 1297
version of Magna Carta shares space with the Charters of Freedom in the National
Archives Rotunda. 
Lord Coke's view of the law was particularly relevant to
the American experience for it was during this period that the charters for the
colonies were written. Each included the guarantee that those sailing for the
New World and their heirs would have "all the rights and immunities of free and
natural subjects." As our forefathers developed legal codes for the colonies,
many incorporated liberties guaranteed by Magna Carta and the 1689 English Bill
of Rights directly into their own statutes. Although few colonists could afford
legal training in England, they remained remarkably familiar with English common
law. During one parliamentary debate in the late 18th century, Edmund Burke
observed, "In no country, perhaps in the world, is law so general a study."
Through Coke, whose four-volume Institutes of the Laws of England was widely
read by American law students, young colonists such as John Adams, Thomas
Jefferson, and James Madison learned of the spirit of the charter and the common
law--or at least Coke's interpretation of them. Later, Jefferson would write to
Madison of Coke: "a sounder whig never wrote, nor of profounder learning in the
orthodox doctrines of the British constitution, or in what were called English
liberties." It is no wonder then that as the colonists prepared for war they
would look to Coke and Magna Carta for justification.
But regardless of whether the charter forbade taxation
without representation or if this was merely implied by the "spirit," the
colonists used this "misinterpretation" to condemn the Stamp Act. To defend
their objections, they turned to a 1609 or 1610 defense argument used by Coke:
superiority of the common law over acts of Parliament. Coke claimed "When an act
of parliament is against common right or reason, or repugnant, or impossible to
be performed, the common law will control it and adjudge such an act void.
Because the Stamp Act seemed to tread on the concept of consensual taxation, the
colonists believed it, "according to Lord Coke," invalid.