We take the rule of law for granted. We have lived in a society where each individual has inherent rights from birth, guaranteed except through forfeit or penalty. We have always had to guard and defend those freedoms, but we have been born with them; none of us has had to wrestle freedom away from a tyrant or despot.

Where did the idea of rule of law and free society originate? Can we properly defend and preserve our law today without understanding its genesis?

June 15 is the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. This medieval agreement, signed on a Monday morning a.d. 1215 on the field of Runnymede, would change the world. As Sir Winston Churchill wrote in A History of the English-Speaking Peoples: “In future ages it was to be used as the foundation of principles and systems of government of which neither King John nor his nobles dreamed.”

This anniversary is a tremendous opportunity to peer backward into 800 years of history to recall how law has triumphed thus far, and to be grateful for the sacrifices and effort taken by our forefathers. The Magna Carta has produced societies that have achieved more and progressed further than anyone could have hoped. The ideas of Magna Carta have reached almost every corner of the Earth.

Magna Carta is Latin for “great charter.” It was created during the reign of the infamous King John. After losing many wars with France and enduring the king’s increasing taxation, the barons of feudal England rebelled against John and forced him to come to terms with their grievances.

The Magna Carta contains no great declarations of liberty within Magna Carta, and in fact only three of its 37 clauses are still in effect in British law. What, then, is its significance today? Daniel Hannan explains this in his book Inventing Freedom:

Why, then, is Magna Carta exalted everywhere English is spoken? What makes it different? For one thing, the three remaining clauses on the British statute books are not insignificant: One guarantees the freedom of the church, another the ancient liberties of the city of London and of other towns and boroughs. The third, Article 29, is the most important, for it is the basis of due process as we understand it today:”No Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised [dispossessed] of his freehold, or liberties or free customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will we not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either justice or right.”Note, again, that phrase “the law of the land.” What is the source of the law? Obviously not the king, for he is here agreeing to bind himself to it. Nor yet the bishops and barons who sealed the charter alongside their sovereign: They, too, are pledging to abide by something bigger than they are. What the Great Charter enshrined, in statutory form, was that the supreme power in the land was not the executive, but a set of fixed legal principles; and that, in any clash between the two, the law would prevail over the government.

It is from this Great Charter than the secular idea of a supreme law came into being. The will of a man was no longer law, but rather fixed principles and rules that would survive beyond the mortality of a king or parliament. It would be a principle where the executive was governed the same as the legislative; the prince and the pauper were held to equal consequences. Churchill continued in his history:

Now, for the first time, the king himself is bound by the law. The root principle was destined to survive across the generations and rise paramount long after the feudal background of 1215 had faded in the past. The Charter became, in the process of time, an enduring witness that the power of the Crown was not absolute.

This was a magna turning point in Western civilization. From that Monday morning in 1215, the Charter would be challenged many times, but it would survive the repeated annulment by the Plantagenets, Stuarts and Pope Innocent iii. From its birth would grow the first parliament and legislative body. It would be challenged and preserved during the English Civil War in the middle of the 17th century. It would be in full bloom in the 18th century where it would find a rebirth across the Atlantic.

Within the American republic we find the expansion and intensification of this principle. The passionate declarations of freedom by our American forefathers and those who fought with them were derived from the same spirit of the Magna Carta. The 13 colonies demanded the rights that each native Englishman had: taxation with representation and responsible government. Although geographically isolated, they felt themselves entitled to the same freedoms and rights that were afforded those living in the mother country.

Daniel Hannan goes on to quote a Texan jurist from the mid-20th century, Hatton Sumners, concerned about President Franklin Roosevelt’s expansion of the executive branch:

There is a straight road which runs from Runnymede to Philadelphia. We did not “borrow” provisions from the British Constitution, which had come from the people; those provisions were ours, paid for with the lives of our ancestors on many a battlefield. I have examined the matter. I tell you our Constitution came up from the body of a self-governing people. But we can lose our capacity to govern by its nonexercise.

Freedom is never free. Defending the rule of law, and upholding the supremacy of law above that of despots, has resulted in countless civil and world wars; the most recent being against Hitler and Nazi Germany. A society based upon the rule of law has been essential to the Anglo-domination of the past 200 years. The Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution are all the foundational documents of our society. Whenever they have been challenged, we have equaled that threat—whether it be on the battlefields of France or in the chambers of Congress.

It is chilling, however, to witness the rule of law be challenged by our own citizens. Over the past six years, we have seen a constant attempt to undermine Congress and give more power to the executive branch. We have seen the Constitution undermined through legislation and judicial interpretations. We have seen a massive spike in rioting and violence within our cities. Respect and reverence for the law has devolved at every level of society. We risk losing our freedom without a fight.

We should take advantage of this 800th anniversary and consider our history. The despots and tyrants will come and challenge our heritage again. We have come a long way since the dew-covered meadow of Runnymede; in the process, we’ve been blessed with the most prosperous and free societies known to man. This is a moment to ponder, to cherish, and to express gratefulness for this 800-year milestone.

But remember, there is no freedom without law. You need to understand the threats to your liberty as America and Britain cast off the rule of law. Listen to Stephen Flurry’s Trumpet Daily radio program from June 8, “Why Won’t Congress Stop the Abuse of Executive Power?”

For further reading, request our free booklet No Freedom Without Law.