How Did King John Influence American Government

The English nobles taking a stand against King John was probably one of the most important event in European history. King John's unpopular method of rule led to a rebellion by the Barons. King John had no chance of winning and was threatened by the Barons, so he was reluctantly forced to sign a document called, The Magna Carta,” which limited the monarchy's powers and granted the nobles liberties. The Magna Carta is not only significant in the European countries. In fact, it inspired the American colonists to used the Magna Carta as a model when creating the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution. If King John never signed the Magna Carta, individual rights, limited monarchies, and justice would probably exist much later in time; or maybe

However, during the first five years of King's John rule, he lost huge lands of it due to the fact that he is a a very terrible military leader. He often fought many costly battles where he lost. The lost of Normandy, one of French territory, was the one that most humiliated King John. Now he was always in disputes with his barons. King John was determined to conquer Normandy again, so he forced his subjects to pay taxes for the unsuccessful wars, especially the barons and the Church. King John loved manipulating the government to get him a lot of money. He charged the barons money for basically everything, which made the barons always in huge debts to the King. The barons needed to pay fines just for owning territories, their titles, and to get married. He even increased the scutage, which were taxes that military men pay instead of doing military services. Another example that makes King John so obsessive with money is that he charged fees when people wanted justice in a court. These are just some reasons why the king was unpopular with the

Both the Pope and King disputed over who has the power to give the anointment. So, the Pope first decided to prohibit the Church's services in England. Then, the Pope excommunicated King John from the Church; King John was the first English king to be excommunicated. King John was furious at the Pope's decision. So, he expressed his angers by taxing the Church, stealing the bishop's earnings, and took the Church's lands to himself. After this event, King John became even wealthier, however, hatred between the King and the Church grew bigger. A writer wrote on King John's tombstone, which stated, “Foul as it is, hell itself is defiled by the fouler presence of John.” (The Mad King and Magna