Question

The Magna Carta was written over 500 years before the American Revolution yet colonists sought to establish many of its ideals in the Declaration of Independence and in their new constitution. According to clause XXIX NO Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed: nor will We not pass upon him nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers or by the Law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right.

How does this law differ from the status of colonists in America?
A. Colonists considered themselves to be free.
B. Colonists considered themselves to be royal subjects.
C. The King considered colonists to be royal subjects.
D. The King considered the colonists to be Freemen.

Answer 1

The Magna Carta's provision for due process became an ideal for American colonists, who felt their rights as Englishmen were infringed under British rule. These infringements contributed to the Declaration of Independence and influenced the Constitutional protections of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Magna Carta, signed by King John in 1215, established the principle of due process and set a precedent for legal rights that included the protection of a free man from being penalized without the lawful judgment of his peers. However, the American colonists' experience differed under British rule - they faced actions that they perceived as violations of their traditional English liberties, such as taxation without representation and trials without juries. This perceived discrepancy between the rights assured by the Magna Carta and the colonists' reality under British governance was one of the grievances that led to the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and subsequently influenced the Constitution with its enshrinement of legal protections including the Fifth and Sixth Amendments.