Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Happy Magna Carta Day | Competitive Enterprise Institute

From the article: 
801 years ago today in a peaceful meadow in England occurred the first act of the American Revolution. There was no America at the time, but in the issuing of Magna Carta we can trace the beginnings of the great experiment that became America. The monarch of England became bound by the rule of law, and as the Texan Congressman and jurist Hatton Sumners put it, "There is a straight road which runs from Runnymede to Philadelphia."
 
https://cei.org/blog/happy-magna-carta-day

When I visited DC this summer I was looking at our itinerary and it listed the National Archives.  I didn't grasp why we would go there.  To my great surprise and pleasure, it contained these extraordinary documents.

The original Constitution.
The original Bill of Rights.
The original Declaration of Independence.

And this last one that surprised me, since it is not an American document, but really is the basis of it all.
One of several approved, original copies of the Magna Carta.

A very memorable visit.