Timeless Truths (part 6) - Magna Carta - 800 years and still going strong

Magna Carta/wikipedia.com

Timeless Truths explores, June 15, 1215 AD - a watershed year. And we still feel it effects in 2015. What happened 800 years ago?

In 1215, failed foreign policies and heavy taxation spurred an uprising of powerful English barons against King John. Under duress, this successor to his brother Richard I, the Lion Heart signed a document which put all future monarchs under the rule of law.

It was called the Great Charter. Perhaps it's better known for its Latin name, the Magna Carta. [reference:  Magna Carta - British History - HISTORY.com ]

And here's how it happened:

(reference: https://youtu.be/7xo4tUMdAMw )

The signing of the Magna Carta rippled throughout history, setting the basis for English Common Law, and inspiring the American Revolution as well as the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

The principles placed limits on what our government can do. Thus governments were to be in chains of their Constitution, not the people in chains to their government.  Politics shifted from a government of men to a government of laws.

And below is a lesson as to how the Magna Carta influenced the American government:

(reference:  https://youtu.be/Ca_kI948JUA )

As US President Abraham Lincoln echoed the Declaration of Independence, which was echoed by John Locke, which echoed the Magna Carta:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 

....

that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

[reference: The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln ]

It's no wonder the Magna Carta is considered one of the Five Documents that Changed the World.

Indeed, the pen is mightier than the sword.

Happy 800 years!

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Previous posts in series:

Timeless Truths (Part 1) - A Cup of Cold Water (2013)

Timeless Truths (part 2) - Love (2013)

Timeless Truths (part 3) - Hakuna Matata - No Worries? (2013)

Timeless Truths (part 4) - A Mother's Advice  (2013)

Timeless Truths (part 5): Always Assume Positive Intent (2014)

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Magna Carta/wikipedia.com