Several merchants pressed him for a charter—a document that granted the right to form a colony.
The Charter of the VA Company in London was the founding document that guaranteed the rights of Englishmen to the colonists. It also established the House of Burgesses.
The English Bill of Rights
Magna Carta
It was a charter granted by King John in1215 to guarantee human rights against the use of royal power and reaffirm church rights.
Virginia Company of London Charter
declaration of independence
bill of rights
magna carta
It was not the Englishmen, but the American colonists. The Bill of Rights was amended into the Constitution to give every American basic civil rights.
The content of the Magna Carta were drawn up by Archbishop Stephen Langton and the most powerful Barons of England. King John signed the document which was originally called the 'Articles of the Barons' on June 10, 1215.
The Magna Carta was a document imposed against the king by the subjects, rather than by the king against the subjects. This began to spread the power away from the single source of the king over multiple people, which is the basis of the democratic concept.