--- title: Who decides: kings, councils, republics and democracies — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Who decides: kings, councils, republics and democracies», a lesson of the history course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Finn's dad says Magna Carta gave us all our rights. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [History](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/) / Who decides: kings, councils, republic… # Who decides: kings, councils, republics and democracies Lesson 67 of the history course of Mova's primary school: 19 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/0/) — Finn's dad says Magna Carta gave us all our rights. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/1/) — Noah thinks the Americans just stopped having a king one day and everyone got the vote. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/2/) — Ethan says the US has the oldest constitution in the world, and his friend asks «no cap?», meaning «no lie?». - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/3/) — What really happened: Magna Carta in 1215 mainly protected barons and the Church, but it set the idea that even the king must follow the law, and later people used it to argue for wider rights. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/4/) — Revolutions gave the vote at first mostly to men with property, and rights came slowly, step by step. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/5/) — Think of deciding on a class trip: the teacher can choose alone, a few class reps can choose, or everyone can vote in secret so nobody is bullied. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/6/) — Humans have tried all of these ways to run whole countries. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/7/) — Many peoples found ways to share decisions: Iceland's Althing met from 930, which Freyja calls «pretty boss», Scouse slang for brilliant; the Haudenosaunee joined their nations in a council of peace; Poland-Lithuania elected its kings. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/8/) — The hardest thing for a ruler is to let go. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/9/) — George Washington stepped down after eight years as president, and that peaceful handover became a strong example, because for most of history rulers refused to give up power. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/10/) — Many kings claimed God chose them; in China rulers spoke of the Mandate of Heaven, which a bad ruler could lose, giving people a reason to replace him. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/11/) — In 1215 English barons forced King John to agree to Magna Carta; it mainly protected barons and the Church, but it set the idea that the king must follow the law. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/13/) — The Haudenosaunee Confederacy united the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca, later the Tuscarora, under a Great Law of Peace; clan mothers chose chiefs and could remove them. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/14/) — Some say the Haudenosaunee inspired the US Constitution; historians debate this. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/15/) — In 1776 American colonists declared independence from Britain and later set up a republic; in 1789 the French Revolution overthrew the king's power; at first mostly men with property could vote, and slavery went on in the US. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/16/) — In 1900 almost no country let all adults vote; today, depending on how researchers count, between about a third and a half of the world's people live in democracies. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/18/) — In 1856 the Australian colonies of Victoria and South Australia began using secret printed ballots, so voters could not be bullied or bribed; many countries copied this «Australian ballot». - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/19/) — The US Constitution of 1787 is the oldest written national constitution still in use, but San Marino has older laws from 1600 that work like one, so it depends how you count. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/67-who-decides-kings-councils-republics-and-democracies/20/) — In 1797 George Washington stepped down as US president after eight years, a peaceful handover of power. - ← previous: [From band to nation: families, tribes, kingdoms, empires and countries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/66-from-band-to-nation-families-tribes-kingdoms-empires-and-countries/) - next →: [Rules, courts, police, taxes and armies through time](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/68-rules-courts-police-taxes-and-armies-through-time/) - ↑ back to [History](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/)