Every Fourth of July, Americans celebrate their independence from Great Britian and the victory of freedom over tyranny. However, what is often forgotten is that the American principles of liberty and equality were not created in a vacuum, but instead grew out of the long history of constitutional government in England. Thus, the story of American freedom does not begin in 1776 but traces its roots back into the Middle Ages. Revealing that the struggle for liberty lies at the heart of Anglo-Saxon civilization.
The governing structure of England saw two periods of extreme development. These were the thirteenth century, with the First and Second Baron’s War, and the seventeenth century, with the English Civil Wars and the Glorious Revolution. At the beginning of the 1200s, England was ruled by King John, a tyrant who heavily taxed his English barons. In response, the English noblemen forced John to sign the “Magna Carta” (“the Great Charter”) in 1215. This guaranteed protection against arbitrary arrest, taxation and loss of property. It was the first legal limitation of monarchical power in European history. John’s son and successor, Henry III, attempted to reassert royal authority, but was defeated by an English lord. Simon de Montfort, at the Battle of Lewes in 1264. With Henry imprisoned and Simon in power, Simon gathered lords, bishops and commoners from across England to govern the country, establishing the first Parliament in English history. When Henry’s son, Edward, defeated Simon at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, freeing the King, Edward agreed not to dissolve Parliament in order to restore peace. Thus, the government of England would be a Parliamentary Monarchy, with the King and the Parliament sharing power between them.
This balancing act would collapse in the 1640s, with King Charles I attempting to implement absolute monarchy in England, following the trend of his fellow monarchs on the continent. This led to the outbreak of a civil war in 1642 between the King and the Parliament, with battles raging across the British Isles. After Charles was defeated and captured by the Parliamentarians, he escaped and allied with Scotland to try to take back power. However, the Parliamentary army, led by general Oliver Cromwell, defeated the King again, and Charles I was executed by the English Parliament in 1649. For the first time in European history, a nation abolished its monarchy. For the next eleven years, England was without a king, and instead Oliver Cromwell ruled the country. After Cromwell’s death in 1658, the Monarchy was restored in 1660, and Charles I’s son, James II, again tried to assert royal authority. In response, the Parliament invited James’ son-in-law, William of Orange, to take the crown of England, on the condition that he accepts Parliamentary supremacy. In 1688, William landed in England with a Dutch army, and with the support of Parliament, forced James to flee the country. After taking the throne, King William III signed the English Bill of Rights in 1689, which stipulated that Parliament alone had the authority to raise armies and implement laws, not the King, and that Englishmen had the right to keep and bear arms. Thus, Parliament had finally subdued the Monarchy and established itself as the supreme authority in England.
With this history in mind, it is clear to see how the American rebellion against British rule was not an aberration in English history, but instead, was the latest in the long series of English revolts against tyranny. The American Patriots who fought against the British Redcoats at Lexington and Concord in 1775 were following the spirit of Simon de Montfort and Oliver Cromwell before them. However, what is distinct from prior Anglo-Saxon history is the Declaration of Independence, which boldly proclaimed that all men were created equal. The American Founders took the pre-existing idea of the inherent freedom of Englishmen and universalized it to include all people. The beauty of the American Republic is not that it invented freedom, but that it was the culmination of a struggle dating back centuries, with English civilization finding purest form in the New World.
