Ohio 7th Grade World History/Magna Carta

In the year 1215, King John signed a document known as the Magna Carta or “Great Charter” in Latin. It was created by Nobles who were angry and tired of the Kings’ doing as they pleased and not respecting the laws and rights of others. The document allowed the Nobles to gain more power by limiting the Kings’ rights so they could not do as they pleased. The definition of the Magna Carta is: a document listing rights that a king could not ignore. Laws such as Habeas Corpus, which allowed people to only be put in jail when they did something wrong, were put into effect to stop the kings’ from taking advantage of lower classes. The Magna Carta led to the English Parliament, which still exists today and made the stepping-stones for today’s modern democratic governments. A system of checks and balances, which was set forth by the Magna Carta, is an idea still used today by the United States Government. Overall the Magna Carta impacted most forms of government including the idea of democracy, the English Parliament, and even today’s United Sites Government.