At first all the representatives met together, but later the bishops and the barons sat in one body, as the House of Lords; and the knights and the citizens in another body, as the House of Commons.

-Confirmation of

Edward I, who came to the throne in 1272, at- Edward I tempted to tax the people arbitrarily, but his methods were declared illegal, and he was forced to charters. confirm the Charter of Liberties of Henry I, the Great Charter of King John, and all other rights and liberties. This confirmation reaffirmed the principle that the people, who really pay the taxes, have a right to determine the taxes laid. It also granted security and protection to private property, and virtually announced the principle of no taxation without representation.

The
Divine

Right

Petition

of

Right.

The pleasure-loving monarch Charles I came to Charles I. the throne in 1625 filled with the idea that he ruled by divine right, and not by consent of the people. In his attempt to exercise that absolute authority of Kings. which he claimed as his royal prerogative, he entered into a long struggle with Parliament. His illegal taxation, his interference with the courts of justice, his unjust imprisonments, and other arbitrary and unlawful acts, led Parliament in 1628 to refuse him supplies for carrying on the war in which he had become involved with France, until he had signed the Petition of Right which Parliament had drawn up. In this Bill the king pledged himself to raise no taxes without the consent of Parliament, to imprison no man except by legal process, to quarter no soldiers on the people except in time of war,

Charles II.

Habeas
Corpus

Act.

William

and Mary. Bill

of Rights.

The

Six Great

Rights.

and to observe faithfully all other national liberties. That the refusal of King Charles to keep his promises finally resulted in his execution, shows how deeply rooted the principles of personal liberty and freedom of government had become.

Another great step in the securing of personal liberty was taken in 1679, when King Charles II was compelled to give his assent to the Habeas Corpus Act. The Latin words habeas corpus mean "you may have the body," and the act permitted any man arrested and imprisoned to be brought at once before a judge who had authority to release him if he was not charged with some specific offense; or if so charged, to see that he had a trial before the proper court without delay.

The final step in establishing the authority of the people was taken in 1689 when Parliament passed the Bill of Rights, and to which King William and Queen Mary were obliged to assent before being crowned. This Bill of Rights set forth the rights of the people as declared by all previous charters and grants, proclaimed that the king ruled by consent of the people, declared the right of the people to petition for redress of grievances, and announced the right of the subjects to rebel when their rights were denied. From this time on we find that the ruling power has rested with the people as voiced through their representatives in Parliament, rather than with the ruling monarch.

The six great rights which the people of England obtained after a struggle for hundreds of years,

and which the American colonists as subjects of England also claimed, may be briefly summarized as follows:

The Right to make their own Laws and levy their own Taxes.

When charged with a specific offense, a man has the
right to have his guilt or innocence determined by
a jury of his equals.

Every one has the right of freedom from arbitrary
and unjust arrest and imprisonment in time of
peace.
"A man's house is his castle," and no one, not even
an officer of the law, has the right to enter and
search one's house in time of peace without a
written order from the government specifying the
house to be searched, and the person or things
to be seized.

That is, the government cannot compel a citizen
in time of peace to provide food and lodging for

The Right by Jury.

of Trial

The Right

of Habeas Corpus.

The Right of Secur ity in the Home.

The Right

of Refus-
ing to

Quarter
Soldiers.

soldiers. It is the right of the people to assemble peaceably The Right to discuss their wrongs, and to petition for redress.

of Petition.

THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS—1765

Called.

At the close of the French and Indian War, Eng- Why land proposed to tax the colonists for a part of the expense incurred in that conflict which drove England's rival from the American shores. To reimburse the English treasury for part of the expenses of the war, and to collect a revenue to pay in part for the maintenance of the army necessary

Action of the

Congress.

to control the territory acquired from France, Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765. This act, which required all legal documents, newspapers, pamphlets, almanacs, etc., to bear stamps furnished by the British government, aroused the deepest indignation throughout the colonies. To protest against this unjust treatment, a colonial congress, called the Stamp Act Congress, met at the request of Massachusetts at New York in October, 1765. Delegates were present from nine còlonies-Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina. Timothy Ruggles of Massachusetts was chosen president.

The congress took the following action, each colony being entitled to one vote:

(1) It issued a Declaration of Rights, in which it was asserted:

(a) That the colonists are loyal subjects of the crown, and as such are entitled to all the rights of native-born subjects;

(b) That it is the undoubted right of all Englishmen to be taxed only by a body in which they are represented;

(c) That the colonists are not and from their local circumstances cannot be represented

in the House of Commons; and, therefore (d) That no taxes can be legally imposed on them but by their respective legislatures. (2) It sent a remonstrance to the king. (3) It sent a memorial to Parliament.

It should be borne in mind that the colonists What

the

were not arguing for representation in Parliament, Colonists but were contending for the principle that taxation conwithout representation was both illegal and unjust. tended. That the colonists were loyal to England and willing to bear their share of the expenses of the war and of the government of the territory acquired from France, there is not the slightest doubt; but they insisted on the time-honored right of all Englishmen of levying their own taxes. England had tried for seventy-five years to induce the colonies to unite against the French, but without success. The French and Indian War, however, had taught the colonists confidence in and respect for one another, and had proved the value and possibility of united action. Now, under the pressure of this common danger of "taxation without representation," which seemed to be striking a blow at their very existence, the colonies of their own accord united in protest. Although Parliament was compelled by the vig- England's orous resistance of the colonists, and the warm protests of British manufacturers whose colonial trade Taxing was nearly ruined, to repeal the Stamp Act in 1766, the yet England persisted in her attempt to tax the col- Colonies. onists, first by the Bill of 1767, and later by the tax on tea alone. The colonists-especially in Massachusetts-zealously refused to be taxed except by themselves. England's conduct during the next few years was such as gradually to crush out the feeling of loyalty and affection, and finally to drive the colonists again to unite to resist her tyranny.

Persist

ence in