Magna Carta in Early America

Magna Carta left an early mark on colonial America. The colonies made law for themselves, provided these were not contrary to English common law; and colonial charters extended to colonists the legal privileges of Englishmen. Magna Carta lay at the visible foundation of those privileges, and resonated strongly with colonists who later sought to protect what they saw as their native rights against the encroachments of the British government.

At the First Continental Congress (September - October 1774) colonists demanded from the Crown the rights of life, liberty and property, government largely by local assemblies, and all the protections of the common law, including jury trials. Firebrand of the Revolution, Thomas Paine, in the most widely-circulated colonial pamphlet, Common Sense (1776), advocated full independence, and suggested a foundational American charter based on the idea of Magna Carta.

Title page of [Publication title start] The Laws of Maryland 1731 [Publication title end]. Title page of [Publication title start] The Acts of the General Assembly ... of New Jersey 1732 [Publication title end]. Title page of [Book title start] The Charters of the British Colonies in America [Book title end].
Title page of [Book title start] A Complete Collection of All the Lavvs of Virginia now in Force ... [Book title end]. Title page of [Book title start] Journal of the Proceedings of the Congress [Book title end]. Title page of [Book title start] Journal of the Proceedings of the Congress. [Book title end].