The Magna Carta – Diplomacy of its Time

Saad Khan
Senior Division
Website category
 The Magna Carta is considered to be the forerunner for all

historical documents that created modern democracy. Such an

important document with little popularity makes for a great

project when it comes to National History Day. The Magna Carta

defined English law in the years after it, and later American law.

My choice of choosing the Magna Carta had two main key

factors involved. The first was the magnitude of the topic, as well

as the relative little knowledge of the public on the matter. I

wanted to educate people on a topic that is little known today but

has a great effect on society. The second key factor was the

theme of the 2011 National History Day. After lightly examining

the topic I found some key links to diplomacy and the Magna

Carta.

Conducting research proved to be the most troublesome in

making my website. I first began my research with primary

sources. Primary sources were mainly found online at the Internet

Medieval Sourcebook. Secondary sources proved easier to find,

but were still hard. Videos were especially absent, as I found only

a few videos covering the Magna Carta. Photos were quite easy to
find, as well as quotes which I used for dramatic purposes. I found

a few books from the local library as well that lightly covered the

topic.

Selection of the website category was not extremely difficult.

The cherry on top that really lured me to make a website was

Weebly, with which I have had previous experience in. I also have

a basic knowledge of computers. Weebly had all of the tools and

more that one needs to make a website. The design of the

website came from my past experience of using the internet. I

used a dark background to show medieval England and it’s dark

times. Pictures were a must for my website, as I am covering a

document. I wanted to make use a video to bring out the uses of

making a website over other types of projects.

The Magna Carta symbolizes a new time in history where

ideas of government, handling leaders, and diplomacy was

changing. The Magna Carta is not an example of international

diplomacy, rather local diplomacy. The Magna Carta, however,

has an international influence on democracy. How is this? It

comes down to America’s modern influence. Since American

thoughts on freedom come from English thoughts on freedom,

and the Magna Carta set the basis for English freedoms, the

Magna Carta has an indirect influence on America. American

ideology has since spread wide and far across the globe. In

conclusion, the Magna Carta has a much more magnified invisible

influence on the world than recognized. The Magna Carta

ultimately limited the power of the monarch and gave freedom to

the people. This act is largely unappreciated today and hopefully

the Magna Carta will gain the popularity it deserves.