《大宪章》与美国革命前后的政治文化变迁

Magna Carta and the Political Culture Before and After the American Revolution

在17世纪英国内战的历史语境中,爱德华·柯克出于现实政治需要,将《大宪章》塑造为一种反抗专制王权和捍卫臣民自由的“神话”。伴随着英国的海外拓殖,《大宪章》来到北美,并与特许状一起成为殖民地自治传统的一部分。在殖民地反英运动中,北美革命者与英国激进派遥相呼应,令《大宪章》在两个层面上发挥了强大的政治能量:其一是作为抵制母国政策的政治话语;其二是作为高度象征意义的权利和自由的护身符。美国独立之后,《大宪章》的精神在融入美国宪政的同时,其本身则在辩论中逐渐淡出政治舞台。《大宪章》的跨大西洋旅行不仅勾勒了英美政治文化互动的轨迹,也再次凸显了美国革命思想来源的多样性以及美国建国前后政治变动的复杂性。

In the historical context of the English Civil War in the 17th century,Edward Coke shaped Magna Carta as a “myth” to resist the tyrannical power and defend the liberty of the subjects out of practical needs.Magna Carta also came to North America with British colonization and,along with charters,became part of the colonial tradition of self-government.In the anti-British movement,the American revolutionaries echoed the British radicals,giving Magna Carta powerful political power on two levels:first,as a political discourse against the policies of mother country;and the second is as a talisman of rights and liberty with highly symbolic meanings.After the independence of the United States,the spirit of Magna Carta was integrated into the American constitutionalism,while itself gradually faded from the political stage.The trans-Atlantic journey of Magna Carta not only outlines the interaction of political culture between Britain and America,but also highlights once again the diversity of the ideological sources of the American Revolution and the complexity of the political changes around the founding of the United States.