Indiana Social Studies 6.C.4
The Standard
Examine key ideas of the Magna Carta (1215), the Petition of Right (1628), and the English Bill of Rights (1689) as documents to place limits on the English monarchy and how they have affected the shaping of other governments.
2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify how three English documents limited the monarch's power. They put the documents in time order and explain how some of their ideas appeared in later governments.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given a short excerpt, a student can name the document and explain what the monarch could no longer do. They can connect the ban on cruel punishment to the U.S. Bill of Rights.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think the Magna Carta gave equal rights to everyone in England. They may also think the English Bill of Rights ended the monarchy, rather than limiting its power.
How to Assess It
- On an exit ticket, ask students to match these ideas to the three documents: lawful judgment before imprisonment, no forced loans to the king, and no cruel punishment. Have them name one protection later found in U.S. law.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs dated document cards and limit cards; have them match the cards and place the pairs on a timeline.
Ask: Why would Parliament object to a king collecting money without its consent? Have students write two sentences using the Petition of Right.
Play Name the Limit: read a document clue, and teams earn a point for naming the document and the restricted royal power.
Hand out the Eighth Amendment and a sentence from the English Bill of Rights; students underline the matching words.
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Related Standards
- 5.C.2
Identify and explain ideas about limited government, the rule of law, and individual rights in key colonial era documents.
- USH.1.1
Analyze key documents from the Founding Era and major ideas about government, individual rights, and the general welfare embedded in these documents.
- 5.C.3
Identify and explain key ideas about government as noted in the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Northwest Ordinance, United States Const...
- USG.2.3
Analyze and interpret central ideas on government, individual rights, and the common good in founding documents of the United States.
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