A Shot at a Scholarship.......

A GUEST BLOGGER..........THIS IS BILLY'S ESSAY FOR HIS SCHOLARSHIP TODAY.  I LIKE IT AND I AM VERY PROUD.

                                                             -L

As a Christian, the values laid out within The Bible are very important to me and its influence carries over into many facets of my life and the lives of others. However, when contemplating my response to the prompt, The Bible was taken off the table. This caused me think about what other values and ideas I hold and what in turn influenced me to possess these ideas. Immediately, I thought of the ideals of freedom and equality. Then, I knew by being brought up in the United States that these thoughts had been instilled within me since a young age. After realizing this, however, I was still unsure of what truly influence me and others with like thinking. Initially, I thought of the Constitution of The United States but I knew that this piece of political literature’s main influence was on The United States and not Western civilization as a whole. The greatest influence of The United States Constitution, in my opinion, also influenced modern democracy throughout the West. This is why I believe that the Magna Carta is the piece of literature that has had the greatest positive influence on Western society.

Before I can delve into the Magna Carta’s impact, I find it necessary to provide some background on it. In 1199, the King of England Richard, the Lionhearted, died. With no heirs, his brother, John, assumed the English throne. With this new position as a powerful monarch, John quickly became crazed with power. As time went on, he slowly began to display tyrannical tendencies. He began to agitate many powerful members of feudal society. Firstly, he angered the land-holding barons that were integral to Britain’s feudal system. Also, he alienated the wealthy merchants of England. These were key mistakes for John.

The first, and foremost, group of men John angered were feudal barons. These baron were wealthy land-owners that allowed peasants and serf to live on their land in exchange for a tax. These barons, in turn, were taxed by the King. John committed many atrocities against these barons because of his sentiment that he was all-powerful and infallible. He raised the taxes on these barons. However, he did so for no plausible reason other than to increase his personal wealth, as he did not reinvest these in anything for the good of the British Empire. John didn’t stop there, however, he continued to commit even more heinous acts. Any barons, or anyone else for that matter, who opposed John rule were punished severely. He would have men detained without any hard evidence or any evidence at all. These men were then held indefinitely without a trial or explanation. He was allowed and not punished for stripping free men of their rights without any legitimate reason or cause. Lastly, he would commit act of pure evil such as forcing the wives and daughters of barons into sexual relations, among other evil acts.  John gave the feudal barons that ran most of his country, in addition to providing a great amount of infrastructure to it, great reasons to dislike and distrust him.

In addition to angering the feudal barons, John also angered British merchants and peasants. He raised taxes on imports and exports, this caused the price of operation for merchants to skyrocket. He now had powerful enemies that ran a good portion of London. The tax hike on the barons caused the taxes for peasants to go up, as well. This put John in a corner as he had little support left.

Finally, in 1215, after all of John’s poor choices, the barons reacted and caused an uproar. They threatened to carry out a violent overthrowing of John. John had little to no choice in meeting their demands. These barons drafted a charter protecting their rights and the rights of all freemen.  They then forced John to sign it.  This charter was known as The Magna Carta, which is Latin for Great Charter. 

The Magna Carta laid out many rules and guidelines for The British Monarch.  First, it restricted the amount of power that he or she had.  In addition, it stated that a monarch would have to follow the laws of the land.  Next, it established Writ of Habeas Corpus and due process of law; this was to protect against detainment without evidence and wrongful imprisonment that had been rampant the early portion of John’s rule.  The Writ of Habeas Corpus established the idea that in order to prosecute an arrestee, you must have solid evidence.  The right of due process required that detainees be prosecuted in a timely manner and not be held indefinitely without being charged and tried. 

By the end of the 13^th century, England had established a parliament which had observed The Magna Carta as a “higher law”.  In addition to having this parliamentary system, the king had severely reduced power.  This helped to move futile England away from monarchy and into a democratic republic type government.  This model of democratic government has found its way into many western democracies such as The United States and Canada.  However, the impact can be most seen it The United States government.

The impact of the Magna Carta on the fledgling colonies of the United States was the most profound, because it helped to establish their views on what rights they deserved and were not being afforded.  The Magna Carta was cited as a major influence in Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.  This pamphlet was widely distributed and is, in fact, the most distributed work per capita in United States history.  Paine’s work commented on the failings of the British as rulers and was used to help rally support for American separation from the British Empire.  It was in fact so influential that George Washington read it to his troops on several occasions as a source of inspiration.

The United States system of government is led by the guiding principles of the Bill of Rights in The United States Constitution.  These documents borrowed many ideas from the Magna Carta, including the Fifth Amendment; this was almost exclusively borrowed from the ideas of the Writ of Habeas Corpus and the right to due process of the law.  The limited powers of the king, which were established under the Magna Carta, are strikingly similar to the limited power of the President of the United States of America.  Just as The British Parliament was designed to balance the powers of the king, The United States Congress is charged with the same task when it comes to the President of the United States.  The eerily ironic part of this is that the Founding Fathers of the United States set up a system of government so similar to that of the British Government that they were trying to part ways from.

As a Christian, The Holy Bible is by far the most influential piece of literature in my life.  As a proud American, and supporter of democracy, The Magna Carta is the most groundbreaking piece of literature ever written, in my opinion.   The Magna Carta has so strongly influenced the America that I know and love, that when choosing the most important piece of literature, The Magna Carta was the only choice.  Democracy is the cornerstone of life as I know it and what provides me with the freedoms that I am so lucky to be afforded.  While The United States Constitution is what allows me these rights, there would be no Constitution without The Magna Carta.  As you can see, the world as you and I know it would be vastly different without The Magna Carta.