June 15 stands as one of the most significant dates in the history of freedom. On this date in 1215, King John affixed his seal on the Magna Carta at Runnymede. The document, agreed to by King John under duress, outlined a number of matters in which the government and its agents couldn't infringe upon the liberties of free men. The first point affirms that "the Church of England shall be free, and shall have her whole rights and liberties involiable." Following the restriction of the King's power over the Church, the Magna Carta grants rights to women regarding marriage and inheritances, limits fines for trivial offenses, prohibits arbitrary land expropriation, forbids government officials from confiscating goods, and affirms the right of self-government within the Church and among the barons. "The barons shall elect twenty-five of their number to keep, and cause to be observed with all their might, the peace and liberties granted and confirmed to them by this charter," one of the document's concluding paragraphs notes.
The agedness of the Magna Carta and how meager the rights, privileges, and freedoms strike many moderns demonstrate that the societies of the West were made and not born. No genius in a laboratory, or council of wise men sitting round a fire, invented the government we have today. It developed. And as much as we might like our form of government, our mere example and persuasion can't convince outsiders to embrace it there overnight absent the historical set of circumstances that gave rise to it here over thousands of years.
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