Declaration of Independence

What were the events that leaded to our revolution and independence of our country from the British? Who was Montesquieu? What were the series of documents that severely weakened the power of the king? If you are asking any questions that are related to those keep reading to find out. Let’s start with the Magna Carta

The Magna Carta is one of the most important to us in history.  During the time this document was written King John was on the throne. This ruler was starting to abuse his powers by raising the taxes without the people’s consent and was killing anybody who tried to take some of his power. The people got very angry with his actions so they wrote up a script called the Magna Carta.  It stated that no one was above the law including the king.  For example the king would kill people without thinking and that was against the law. It also stated that the king could not raise taxes without the great council’s consent.  The great council was a body that was made of bishops and high ranking officials.  In addition to that it said that everyone should have a fair trial and cannot just be put away when the king said so.  Finally it stated if the king were to break one of these laws it was the duty of the people to rebel against him.  During this time the feudal system was present. The feudal system works because the king can’t control all of the land so he needs help. First he hires nobles to split up the land.  Those nobles hire knights to protect the territory and to enforce laws. So if he didn’t sign this charter he would have been attacked by the knights because the nobles own the knights the king doesn’t. This left him with no choice but to sign it. 

Another major document is the English bill of rights. The English bill of rights was made during the glorious revolution. Charles II took the throne thinking he would be a despotic ruler. He started making the military, the people, and the governments become Roman Catholic. Any Protestants, or anybody from a different religion, was going to be wiped out or converted. The people didn’t like this so they revolted against Charles. This ended up in the people’s victory and many old traditions changed. Now the king had less power and almost every law that was made had to go through the parliament before actually being put into play. The Bill of Rights also stated that everyone should have the right of a trial by jury as the Magna Carta said too.  Lastly it states that everyone has the right to petition. This is a process which if there is a complaint or suggestion the king will act on it immediately and try to fix any problems.