Magna Carta vs. Constitution

265 Words2 Pages
Between the time the Magna Carta was created and the time our country was founded, almost 300 years had passed. In that span of time, the liberties that were founded in the Magna Carta were liberties that people expected to have. These freedoms became not just American freedoms, but freedoms for anyone who came to this country to start a new life. When these liberties were threatened by the oppressive rule of England, the colonists fought to hold on to them. In doing so, they formed the great country that became the United States of America. There are many ways that the Magna Carta and the U.S. Constitution are similar in the ways they lay out the government. One example of this is that the Magna Carta forced limitations on the King of England, and established a parliament form of government, to represent the people. This form of government split the lawmaking between an institution of individuals, and the King. This prevented the King from creating selfish laws as he pleased. In this aspect the Magna Carta is similar to the U.S. Constitution, but our constitution consists of 3 branches, instead of 2. Another example of this is the way taxes are levied. The Magna Carta says that taxes cannot be changed unless done so by the Parliament. While we do not have a parliamentary system of government, our body of government that levies taxes is Congress. As the United States grew, each state needed an income for the common good of each resident, so the Legislature became the “Parliament” of
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