The Magna Carta has reached sacred status in the U.S., but its status has been built upon mythic foundations. The purposes it has served have generally been positive, illustrating that not all myth making is bad.  Jill Lepore explores this history in The New Yorker. She observes that “[i]t would not be quite right to say that Magna Carta has withstood the ravages of time. It would be fairer to say that, like much else that is very old, it is on occasion taken out of the closet, dusted off, and put on display to answer a need. Such needs are generally political. They are very often profound.” Read the entire story here:

The Magna Carta Myth – The New Yorker.

King John at Runnymede (1215) signing the Magna Carta