Great British Documents
The framers of the Constitution were British citizens before they were American citizens. As British citizens, they believed that they were entitled to the rights of Englishmen. In fact, it was only when they were not provided those rights that they rebelled. What were the rights guaranteed to British citizens? We’ve all heard the "no taxation without representation" slogan, but what other rights did Englishmen have and where did they originate? To answer that, we will have to look back at British history and examine some British documents that contain those rights.
Magna Carta (1215) Four British documents are important to the British and American concept of limited government. The first is the Magna Carta (The Great Charter). Signed in 1215 by King John to hold off a rebellion of his barons, it limited the power of the monarch for the first time in world history.
English Petition of Right (1628 and 1648) You remember that Thomas Hobbes wrote The Leviathan to justify the return of the monarchy after Charles I was beheaded. Prior to his demise in 1628, Charles was forced to sign the second great document of the British Constitution, and Charles II was also forced to sign it prior to assuming the throne in 1648. The English Petition of Right is the second great document of British rights that the framers believed listed the basic human rights of Englishmen.
Habeas Corpus Act (1679) Shortly after in 1679 the British Parliament passed the Habeas Corpus Act to prohibit the King from arbitrarily imprisoning his critics.
The British Bill of Rights (1689) When the Parliament forced James II to flee England, the British Parliament offered the crown to William and Mary of Orange. You will recall that John Locke wrote to justify this act of Parliament. Only after they had signed this fourth declaration of rights, The British Bill of Rights, were they formally proclaimed King and Queen.
The importance of the British quest for individual rights resulted in four documents considered part of the British Constitution. What rights did the British see as so important that kings were beheaded and monarchs deposed in support of those?
Use the Web sites listed at Webmesh Global Network to answer that question by completing this worksheet.
