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Activity 2—The Evolution of the Magna Carta

Read the essay: "The Rhetoric of Rights: Americans are 'Englishmen' and Englishmen Have Constitutional Rights," which appears on the EDSITEment-reviewed website E Pluribus Unum, keeping in mind the questions below.

What does John Allen mean when he states that the king is "as much under a law . . . as the people are under the oath of allegiance to him"? What basic concept of government is indicated by this assertion?
Colonists claimed that the colonial charters, such as those of Virginia and Massachusetts, guaranteed them the rights granted in Magna Carta. Explain their reasoning. What evidence do we have that the king believed that the American colonists had a legitimate claim to the rights of Englishmen?
What was the basic argument used by Coke to challenge the powers of King James I. In what respects was his argument based on the Magna Carta? Of what relevance were Coke's ideas to the Americans in the period leading up to the Revolution?
What evidence is presented in this essay of the importance of Magna Carta to the American colonists who challenged King George III?
Were the references to Magna Carta made by patriot leaders correct? Defend your answer.
Based on the use of Magna Carta by the American Revolutionary leaders, what do we learn about the significance of this document and how its meaning had changed over time?

The great seal of the State of Massachussetts, 1775.

Coke challenges King James, as depicted on a bronze door at the United States Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.