Magna Charta Analysis

In the early 13th, the English Barons forced their tyrannical monarch, King John, to sign the revered Magna Charta. Their justifications for revolting against the crown originated with the ideas if protecting and defending the rights of loyal British subjects by providing due process and representation for the subjects. The principles once fought for, went largely unheeded by the colonists contemporaries in Parliament. Although the colonists made numerous requests to be treated as loyal subjects, via due process and representation, the refusal of both Parliament and the King to adhere to those principles resulted with the Declaration of Independence. Even though the Magna Charta was structured to provide representation for the colonists, also …show more content…
Injustice warranted the response of both the English Barons and the American Colonists. The Barons restructured their government to create an entity to permanently uphold the rights of the British subjects. Unlike the British, the Americans chose to completely disband itself from a monarchial form of government because of its continual association with abuse of powers and an absence of checks and balances. The founding fathers structured their Declaration of Independence on the concept that “sovereignty resided in the people, who submitted voluntarily to laws and authorities in exchange for protection of their life, liberty, and property.” Therefore, “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends [inalienable rights], it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,” the government is truly monitored by the governed. The American founding fathers endeavored to avoid the mistakes of their British predecessor by excluding the absolute position of a monarch. Any American ruler serving under the Declaration of Independence would henceforth be subject to the principles of the