1354
Liberty of Subjects (English law) defined that condemned, imprisoned, disinherited, or seized person be allowed to answer within due process of law.
1351
The Treason Act acknowledged that whoever makes war against or assist enemies of England will be tried with treason.
1350
The Statute for those who are born in Parts beyond Sea assured Englishmen remain subjects and children of England.
1322
Prerogatives of the King in the Construction of Grants of Lands (English law) statute permitted the King to give and grant land as he see fits.
1297
England’s Magna Carta of Article 39 stated that no freemen shall be taken, imprisoned, exiled or deprived of liberty without due process of law.
1215
King John signed Magna Carta which prohibited slavery in England and guaranteed justice for all under the rule of law throughout the British Empire.
1189
Laws of Richard Concerning Crusaders Who Were to Go by Sea (English law) required murderers to be buried at sea or on land.
1166
Assize of Clarendon (English law) defined anyone identified as a robber, thief or murderer be brought to justice under the law.
1775
Lord Dunmore, the governor of Virginia declared martial law and granted freedom for all slaves held in bondage by colonial patriots. However, per English law, all slaves in American colonies are liberated.
1774
The First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia to organize colonial resistance to Parliament’s Intolerable Acts passed in May of the same year and vowed to discontinue the slave trade after the first of December.
1772
A unanimous ruling in James Somerset v. Charles Stewart, King’s Bench, June 1772 by England’s Twelve Judges that slavery was not “allowed and approved by the laws of this Kingdom” and can only be lawful by way of “positive law.” Slavery was deemed unconstitutional throughout the British Empire and 15,000 native sons are immediately released from bondage in England and Wales.
1729
The colonies of South and North Carolina were granted charters and each memorialized that the colony would be bound by England’s rule of law and the Magna Carta. Born in either colony conferred British subjecthood per charter and all legal rights of being an Englishman.