History Of Magna Carta Essay

“Magna Carta has neither legal nor symbolic significance in Australia today.” Discuss.
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was an important legal document in feudal England, where despotism oppressed the masses. Magna Carta, meaning ‘The Great Charter’, is one of the most renowned documents in the world, it was originally sealed by King John of England as an expedient response to political pressure from revolting barons at Runnymede in 1215. The charter outlined terms of a de facto constitutional settlement between the crown, the most influential families and the entire community. The original charter, contains 63 articles, which are mostly concerned with taxation, criminal justice, public administration and royal abuses of feudal customs. The Magna

After King John’s death, the document was reissued by the guardians of his nine-year-old son, Henry III in 1216. The Magna Carta was modified on various occasions including the years 1217 to extract articles and in 1225 to address taxation to pay for wars in both France and England. Within a few decades, it became “virtually inconceivable that Henry III or his successors could in any way seek to annul Magna Carta. ” Although Magna Carta’s roots only gave rights to ‘free men,’ which excluded the villein majority, these principles supposedly led to the British Bill of Rights in 1689 which gave rights to all men. These rights granted freedom from royal taxation, the ability to petition the monarch, the power to elect members of parliament and freedom of speech. These liberties which were excessively perceived to originate in Magna Carta, were the influential ethical basis in the forming of the United States Constitution in 1797 and were motivators in the French Revolution. Australia as part of the Commonwealth based its constitution on British legislature in 1900 which was attributed to being informed by the Magna Carta’s fundamental