Magna Carta
Manage episode 437423833 series 3562205
The cornerstone of the Rule of Law and Modern Democracy is Magna Carta. It was a peace treaty between King John and the barons who rebelled against his dictatorship. The treaty was agreed to in June 1215 in Runnymede, a 150 acre grassy field on the south bank of the River Thames between Windsor and Staines. Nearly all of the nobility of England were present to witness the event. However, if it were simply a peace treaty, today it would be a shadowy figure obscured by the mists of time. It was much more. It is the Great Charter of English Liberties. English kings confirmed it sixty times. Its works underscore its significance in the history of the world; King John: "We have also granted to all free men of our kingdom, for ourselves and our heirs in perpetuity, all of the following liberties, for them and their heirs to have and to hold of us and our heirs."
England, the United States and every nation that has a government derived from England's is built upon the bedrock of Magna Carta. Provisions of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution can be directly traced to Magna Carta's chapters.
This episode describes the events of June 1215 and highlights the links between Magna Carta's chapters and the foundational documents of American Democracy.
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