Expert: Mark Smith - 3/16/2004

Question
What can you tell me about the Magna Carta also how it effected society in England and in the United States today?

Answer
Hello Derek. Sorry for being so slow but I didn't receive your question first time, Allexperts had to send it again after the three days had elapsed and that's the first I saw of it.
The Magna Carta is often regarded as the basis of modern democracy as practised in GB and the USA. However much of the original charter's clauses refer to feudal government long outdated or manorial rights, too equally outmoded. The two most important clauses are numbers 38 and 39 which lay down the principle of the rule of law and that extends to society today. It was reissued and confirmed many times over the following centuries and when law making became a more formal matter in the 16th century the Magna Carta was the blueprint.
Mark