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The individual rights and liberties afforded residents of England and the American Colonies underwent a significant period of evolution between the period during which the Colonies were first settled by Europeans and the American Constitutional Convention. Although the concept of individual rights and liberties existed long before Colonists arrive on the North American continent, more advancement occurred during the colonization period than prior. The culmination of this advancement was in the Bill of Rights composed to accompany the United States Constitution and laid the groundwork for the individual rights and liberties enjoyed today.
In England, the legacy of individual rights and liberties has its roots in the Magna Carta, which was accepted and sealed by King John in 1215. The Magna Carta was “a defining document”, as “it was the first time that the rights of the people were documented, signed and witnessed”.
(Lewis, 1999) Although this document did set aside certain rights and freedoms to the people, it was not the far-reaching document the Magna Carta is now recognized as.
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The original version, in 1215, was “a set of baronial stipulations, now lost, known as the ‘Articles of the Barons. ” (Magna Carta and its American Legacy, n. d. ) England was long a country that recognized placement in society as more important than equal rights among all, and in the original writing of the Magna Carta, this caste society was emphasized and given continued creedance – the baronial class still held supreme over the common citizens, and although the intent of the Magna Carta was to hold the King of England to the same standards as the citizens he rules, this was not immediately the case.
As time proceeded, the Magna Carta would be revisited and reinvigorated in the 17th century, a time that coincided with the colonization of the North American continent by Europeans.
At that time, Sir Edward Coke, Attorney General to Queen Elizabeth I, “argued that even kings must comply to common law”. (MCAIAL) The House of Stuart, then ruling England, was considered especially repressive to individual rights and liberties, and it was Sir Edward’s defense of the Magna Carta and his use of it against the oppression of the royal line that led to advancements in society.
At the same time as Sir Edward’s work in England, charters for colonization of the North American continent were being constructed, and “each included the guarantee that those sailing for the New World and their heirs would have ‘all the rights and immunities of free and natural subjects’”. (MCAIAL) This became significant in that all colonists were to be granted the same individual rights and liberties as those citizens who remained in England.
The influence of the Magna Carta extended into the new world and gave inspiration to the Founding Fathers who constructed the initial laws and regulations that would govern the North American continent’s newest citizens. Many of the colonies “incorporated liberties guaranteed by Magna Carta and the 1689 English Bill of Rights directly into their own statutes”. (MCAIAL) Seeking freedom from a variety of circumstances in England, most notably religious persecution, the colonists to the New World were especially fervent in granting as many individual rights and liberties as were feasible to maintain a stable society.
It is interesting to note, as delineated in a timeline in chapter two of Landy-Milkis’ American Government textbook American Government: Balancing Democracy and Rights that at the same time the Pilgrims, were landing at Plymouth Rock, slave ships were landing in the Virginia Colony. (Landy-Milkis, 2004) Even during a time when individual rights and liberties were being explored on a new continent, certain classes were still restricted to little or no rights and treated as property. For some, individual rights and liberties were still a thing of the future.
In the colony of Massachusetts, those chosen to represent and govern over the colonists realized that the granting of individual rights and liberties was crucial towards the development of society. It is significant to note that “although few colonists could afford legal training in England, they remained remarkably familiar with English common law”. (MCAIAL) This is important, because it indicates that the initial legislation in the New World was not an unsophisticated body of laws written hastily and with little or no legal relevance.
Instead, the newly written laws were well-constructed in such a way as many were later incorporated into the laws that still govern today. In the Massachusetts Body of Liberties, written in 1641, the first paragraph clearly denotes the sheer importance of the cultivation and allowance of individual rights and liberties, saying: “The free fruition of such liberties, immunities, and privileges as humanity, civility, and Christianity call for as due to every man in his place and proportion without impeachment and infringement hath ever been and ever will be the tranquillity and stability of churches and commonwealths.
And the denial or deprival thereof, the disturbance if not the ruin of both. ” (Massachusetts Body of Liberties, 1641) Meanwhile, shortly after the Massachusetts Body of Liberties was written in 1641, advancements were also occurring in England. In 1649, Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan, declared the country to be a Commonwealth, after a bloody struggle for control of the country.
Although Cromwell proved to be an ineffective leader, his ascension to the Throne is significant in that it began a trend that would weaken the power of the royal class and strengthen the power of the everyday citizens. After his own overthrowing in 1660, England was led first by Charles II and then James II. After a period of 28 years, power moved to Queen Mary and her husband, William of Orange, and during their time in reign, a most significant advancement occurred: “a Bill of Rights was passed…that made the monarchy responsible to Parliament and subject to its laws”. Lewis, 1999) This evolution in the way in which individual rights and liberties were granted to the citizen class lead to the modern organization of England, as it is recognized today – a country where much power resides with the Parliament that is chosen to represent the needs of the people, accented by a monarchy that has a very small degree of control and is main a figurehead. As the 17th century gave way to the 18th century and the American Revolution became an imminent occurrence, the citizens of the American Colonies continued to further define and refine their own individual rights and liberties.
As a series of colonies formed mainly based on religious principles, a large “emphasis [was placed] on both divine and secular contractual relationships. These greatly facilitated the emergence of a social order built on individual rights and social mobility. ” (Outline of US History, 2005) As societies continued to build and thrive in the 18th century, especially in coastal areas, this social order continued to strengthen, as colonists began to identify themselves with their chosen home, instead of as citizens of England.
A fiercely independent people, Americans took umbrage against the expectation of England that the colonists pay taxes to help offset the costs of wars waged in which America played no role. In chapter two of Patterson’s The American Democracy, it is noted that “the Revolutionary War was partly a rebellion against England’s failure to respect its own tradition of limited government in the colonies. (Patterson, 2005) As the 18th century rolled onward, the American people’s confidence in their own ability at self-governance evolved from the individual rights and liberties their new land had cultivated. And so the evolution begun with the Magna Carta and in effect through the modern age helped the citizens of the American colonies to rise up against England, where development lagged somewhat behind, and fight to become a separate nation, whose Constitution and Bill of Rights were written entirely upon the principles of providing a maximum amount of individual rights and freedoms to all citizens.
Evolution Of Individual Rights. (2020, Jun 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/evolution-individual-rights-new-essay
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