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The Magna Carta Jump Starts Capitalism How did the notion of property rights develop and spread? To understand this, grab your crossbow and jump the moat back to 1215 London… Direct students to “Curb Your Monarch” in Chapter 7 of the workbook and read aloud: Curbeth Your Monarch and Geteth Your Rights in Writing In 1215, an inept and unlikeable English monarch named King John had essentially bankrupted England by fighting (and losing) a battle (and a lot of land) to the French. To rebuild the treasury, he required barons (nobles who owned large manors) who had not supported the battle with their physical presence to pay a fee in lieu of military service. The barons took exception to this and to a lot of other things that John had been up to. One of their gripes was that there had always been a kind of tradition whereby taxes or fees to be paid to the Crown were negotiated in a gentlemanly manner between kings and barons, not unilaterally imposed. As you’ll recall from the last lesson, at that time England was under the manorial system . Responsibility for taxes and fees were passed down by the barons to their tenant-farmers in the form of increased labor and production demands. That made the barons pretty unpopular on their home turf and life around the manor tense. Another beef the barons had with the King was that, traditionally, land belonging to barons was recognized and respected as private property. It couldn’t be seized by the Crown for nonpayment of taxes without an opportunity for redress (due process). However, King John not only unilaterally imposed taxes, he’d ruthlessly confiscated land when taxes weren’t paid. The Barons finally had enough. They needed to curb this guy’s power and get their rights in writing. So they did what people did in those days – they revolted. Their successful invasion and takeover of London got the king’s attention, and he started dealing. The result was the Magna Carta , the first written constitution in history and the foundation of modern democracy. It’s no coincidence that following the signing of the Magna Carta, England’s economy took off. In spite of some early setbacks due to the unfortunate events of The Great Famine and Black Death, England soon became the most powerful economy in the world and remained so for several hundred years. PRODUCT PREVIEW What was it about the Magna Carta that jump-started capitalism? For one thing, it provided for representative government, which meant that people were given the right to participate in government by determining the laws by which they would be governed. Secondly, it guaranteed property rights . No longer could the monarchy unilaterally impose laws, or seize property without due process . The fact that property rights took root so thoroughly in the West is one important theory explaining why European countries dominated commerce for so long. In fact, many experts believe that property rights are the single most important factor leading to economic development .
Lesson 7 | Commerce Capitalism 114
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