Tha Magna Carta signed by King John and the barons of England on the field of Runnymeade in 1215 is the landmark in the development of constitutional government.
Magna Carta, which means 'The Great Charter', is one of the most important documents in history as it established the principle that everyone is subject to the law, even the king, and guarantees the rights of individuals, the right to justice and the right to a fair trial
This evolution of the Magna Carta's feudal rights into constitutional rights of ordinary people took centuries, since many later English kings successfully ignored the charter. Only in the wake of the Glorious Revolution of 1688 did England succeed in establishing a durable constitutional monarchy with Parliament as the nation's supreme law-making body.
The Missouri Compromise was an effort by Congress to defuse the sectional and political rivalries triggered by the request of Missouri late in 1819 for admission as a state in which slavery<span> would be permitted. At the time, the United States contained twenty-two states, evenly divided between slave and free.</span>
Oppose ratifying the Constitution was a major goal of the Anti-Federalists.
