NewsTracker Answers for week of June 15, 2015

Q: This week England celebrates the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta - the bedrock of Britain's constitutional freedoms and the basis for the U.S. Bill of Rights, the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Where is England?

Circle the area on this map

Q: The "Great Charter" was ratified by King John of England on June 19, 1215, at Runnymede, about 20 miles west of London, after an uprising by his barons. Runnymede is on which river that also flows through London?

A. Avon

B. Mersey

C. Thames

D. Tweed

C. The River Thames runs through London, Oxford and Windsor in southern England. It is the the longest river entirely inside England.

Q: The Magna Carta established the principle of  due process under law and placed the monarch under the rule of law. What type of government rules England?

A. Absolute monarchy

B. Constitutional monarchy

C. Federal republic

D. Direct democracy

B. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy. The monarch - currently Queen Elizabeth II - is the head of state and undertakes various official, ceremonial, diplomatic and representational duties. But, the government is run by the Parliament.

Q: The Magna Carta was finally adopted as English law in 1297, and only four copies of the 1297 version exist. Two of them are outside England – one in Washington, D.C., and the other in the capital of Australia . . .

A. Canberra

B. Perth

C. Melbourne

D. Sydney

A. The Australian government bought its copy of the Magna Carta after it was rediscovered at an English school in the 1930s, and it is housed in Parliament House in Canberra. The copy in the U.S. National Archives was purchased from an aristocratic English family in 1984. It was later resold and then loaned to the archives. The charter is basis of common law in many countries including Australia and the United States.

Q: Some ideas from the Magna Carta were included in the U.S. Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Where were these amendments approved by Congress in 1789?

A. Washington, D.C.

B. Philadelphia

C. Baltimore

D. New York City

D. Federal Hall in New York City was the first home to Congress starting in 1789. It's also where George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States. In 1800, Congress held its first meeting in a newly established federal city, Washington, D.C. Philadelphia, Baltimore and five other cities served as the national capital at various times before and during the Revolution.