Magna Carta Outline

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The Magna Carta is an important political charter agreed on and signed by King John in 1215 at Runnymede, a field along the Thames River near Windsor, England. The original draft was written by Archbishop of Canterbury with the intention for the unpopular king to make peace with the group of rebels. This would be achieved by granting them underwritten laws, liberties, extending the rights to nobles and freemen, as well as limiting royal power. However, neither the King nor the barons stood behind their commitments. The charter was terminated by Pope Innocent III, leading to the First Barons' War. King Henry III reissued the document in 1216 after his father King John died, hoping to rally some political support from the citizens. The Magna Carta became part of the peace treaty at end of the war in 1217. King Edward I finally confirmed it as part of England's statute law …show more content…
The Magna Carta formed the basis of the rights we have today as due process of law which stated that” by legal judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.” The second most important theme of the Magna carta was the development of the right of habeas corpus (Excerpt # 39 in the articles of the Magna Carta). Its main theory was to define that no human beings should be held in prison without being charged with a specific crime. Habeas Corpus was later redefined and developed into the Petition of Right in 1628 and the Habeas Corpus Act in 1679. The third most important theme in Magna Carta was to limit the right of the King to raise taxes unless he seeks approval of his Great Councilmen (Excerpt #12 in the articles of the Magna Carta). This law was eventually revolved into the law that we have today, which stated that any taxation without representation was