The Creation of American Common Law, 18501880: Technology, Politics, and the Construction of Citizenship [Hardcover]

This book is a comparative study of the American legal development in the mid-nineteenth century. Common law is the name for legal principals developed by judges. America developed its own system of the common law in the mid-nineteenth century, abandoning the system inherited from England. This book is a comparative study of the development of American law that contrasts the experiences of North and South by a study of Illinois and Virginia, supported by observations from six states. The book has a new comparative focus highlighting the connections between legal development, American political thought, and American political and economic development. Common law is the name for legal principals developed by judges. America developed its own system of the common law in the mid-nineteenth century, abandoning the system inherited from England. This book is a comparative study of the development of American law that contrasts the experiences of North and South by a study of Illinois and Virginia, supported by observations from six states. The book has a new comparative focus highlighting the connections between legal development, American political thought, and American political and economic development.America developed its own system of the common law (the name for legal principles developed by judges) in the mid-nineteenth century, abandoning the legal system inherited from England. This comparative study of the development of American law contrasts the experiences of North and South by a study of Illinois and Virginia, supported by observations from six states. It has an original comparative focus highlighting the connections between legal development, American political thought, and American political and economic development.Part I: 1. Introduction; Part II: 1. North and South; 2. Illinois. 'We were determined to have a rail-road'; 3. 'The memory of man runneth not to the contrary': cases involving damage to property; 4. 'Intelligent beings': cases involving ilC*