The Literature Of American Legal History

This introductory text explores the historical origins of the main legal institutions that came to characterize the Anglo-American legal tradition, and to distinguish it from European legal systems. The book contains both text and extracts from historical sources and literature. The book is published in color, and contains over 250 illustrations, many in color, including medieval illuminated manuscripts, paintings, books and manuscripts, caricatures, and photographs.

The first guide to legal research intended for the many nonspecialists who need to enter this arcane and often tricky area

A Companion to American Legal History presents a compilation of the most recent writings from leading scholars on American legal history from the colonial era through the late twentieth century. Presents up-to-date research describing the key debates in American legal history Reflects the current state of American legal history research and points readers in the direction of future research Represents an ideal companion for graduate and law students seeking an introduction to the field, the key questions, and future research ideas

This is a study of the central role of history in late-nineteenth century American legal thought. In the decades following the Civil War, the founding generation of professional legal scholars in the United States drew from the evolutionary social thought that pervaded Western intellectual life on both sides of the Atlantic. Their historical analysis of law as an inductive science rejected deductive theories and supported moderate legal reform, conclusions that challenge conventional accounts of legal formalism Unprecedented in its coverage and its innovative conclusions about major American legal thinkers from the Civil War to the present, the book combines transatlantic intellectual history, legal history, the history of legal thought, historiography, jurisprudence, constitutional theory, and the history of higher education.

The second edition is updated and expanded, making this highly successful college textbook the authoritative text on its subject. New material encompasses recent developments in American constitutional and legal history, with special attention given to issues of death and dying, criminal justice, and the feminist critique of the law.

When the first edition of American Legal History: Case and Materials appeared over twenty-five years ago, American legal history was a nascent scholarly field. Today, the subject of legal history has flooded law, history, and political science departments across American universities. Legalhistory appears in the scholarship of social, economic, political, and diplomatic historians, as well as becoming an integral part of gender, immigration, race, slavery, and labor studies. More than ever before, legal history has become a part of our collective legal culture, as well as ourscholarly world.This text provides a comprehensive selection of the most important documents in American legal history, from America's colonial origins to the present. Devoting special attention to the interaction of social and legal change, American Legal History: Cases and Materials shows how legal ideasdeveloped in tandem with specific historical events, while also revealing America's rich and unique legal culture. The book also details the realtionship between the evolution of American law and the development of American society, politics, and economy.

A concise examination of the central role of legal decisions in shaping key social issues explores topics ranging from Native American affairs and slavery to business and home life as well as how criminal and civil offenses have been addressed in positive and negative ways. Original.