1. Agenda: Magna Carta Unit 1 Essential Questions:
1. Is there such a thing as one “best form of government” for all societies?
2. How did Greco-Roman political philosophy and political reforms in medieval England influence the development of democratic values?
Learning Target: I can explain the importance of Magna Carta to the freedoms Americans and some others enjoy today.
HW: “Mad King” reading. Due block day.
HW: Study for Practice Quiz on block day.

2. Magna Carta-- Limited Government + Legal Rights
Why does the king look so depressed?

3. Juries, Common Law and Due Process
Juries: Instead of trial by combat, 12 men from the community would help a judge decide.
Common law: A decision made in one case could serve as a precedent in another.
Due process: The rules of a trial have to be clear, consistent and the same for everyone.
VS.
Precedent: A legal term meaning the resolution of an important case would guide how similar cases would be decided in the future. If you have a legal precedent, you don’t have to argue over that aspect of the case—it was decided in the past.
DUE PROCESS: During the Song Dynasty, an insecure emperor made it illegal to copy or otherwise distribute laws. People were using the laws to assert their rights and it got annoying!

4. Why Magna Carta? Arrested opponents at will. Torture widespread.
King John’s Abuses
Taxed the nobles heavily and ignored their traditional rights.
Arrested opponents at will.
Torture widespread.
Rights usually go to elite groups first, then trickle down to the rest over the centuries. John made powerful enemies all at the same time.

5. Rebellious nobles + Church forced King John to approve the Magna Carta.
Magna Carta: The king must now observe common law and respect the traditional rights of the nobles and the Church.
What about the peasants????

6. Has the USA ever suspended habeas corpus?
King John also agreed to habeas corpus.
Habeas corpus: An accused person cannot be jailed indefinitely without being charged with a crime + a court has to agree.
Has the USA ever suspended habeas corpus?
Habeas corpus literally means in Latin: “Show me the body” as in a judge asking the king’s prosecutor, “You know that guy you charged with treason? We need him here in court right now, not rotting in some dungeon somewhere for however long you want to keep him there.”

7. So what?
Magna Carta ended divine right: The theory that the king was chosen by God to rule.
As time passed, these rights expanded to everyone.
Can you have rights if your ruler claims he is chosen by God? Why or why not?

8. QUICK SKITS
GOAL: The class guesses which concept you’re depicting without you having to say the word.
1-2 minutes with at least 2 scenes.
Everyone must play a role.