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Charter Constitutionalism: The Myth Of Edward Coke And The Virginia Charter, Mary S. Bilder
Charter Constitutionalism: The Myth Of Edward Coke And The Virginia Charter, Mary S. Bilder
Mary Sarah Bilder
Magna Carta’s connection to the American constitutional tradition has been traced to Edward Coke’s insertion of English liberties in the 1606 Virginia Charter. This account curiously turns out to be unsupported by direct evidence. This Article recounts an alternative history of the origins of English liberties in American constitutionalism. A quarter century before the Virginia charter, provisions assuring liberties to English children born overseas were inserted in the earliest letters patent. These provisions drew on an older practice extending liberties to children born overseas. Because of these provisions, persons born in the colonies were guaranteed the same liberties as those …