Law and Authority in Early Massachusetts

Law and Authority in Early Massachusetts PDF Author: George Lee Haskins
Publisher: University Press of America
ISBN: 9780819143730
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

Book Description
Originally published by the Macmillan Company in 1960, this book is intended as an introduction to the history of Massachusetts law in the colonial period, 1630ó1650. This volume first traces the evolution of the colony's institutions and instruments of government and, second, describes in broad outline certain aspects of the substantive law that developed in these first two decades.

Law and Authority in Early Massachusetts

Law and Authority in Early Massachusetts PDF Author: George Lee Haskins
Publisher: University Press of America
ISBN: 9780819143730
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

Book Description
Originally published by the Macmillan Company in 1960, this book is intended as an introduction to the history of Massachusetts law in the colonial period, 1630ó1650. This volume first traces the evolution of the colony's institutions and instruments of government and, second, describes in broad outline certain aspects of the substantive law that developed in these first two decades.

The Colonial Laws of Massachusetts

The Colonial Laws of Massachusetts PDF Author: Massachusetts
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 424

Get Book Here

Book Description


Law and Society in Puritan Massachusetts

Law and Society in Puritan Massachusetts PDF Author: David Thomas Konig
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807863432
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 364

Get Book Here

Book Description
Distinguished by the critical value it assigns to law in Puritan society, this study describes precisely how the Massachusetts legal system differed from England's and how equity and an adapted common law became so useful to ordinary individuals. The author discovers that law gradually replaced religion and communalism as the source of social stability, and he gives a new interpretation to the witchcraft prosecutions of 1692. Originally published 1979. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

The Laws and Liberties of Massachusetts

The Laws and Liberties of Massachusetts PDF Author: Massachusetts
Publisher: Huntington Library Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 88

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Book of the General Lawes and Libertyes Concerning the Inhabitants of the Massachusets is the first compilation of laws and constitutional rights printed in English America. Six hundred copies were produced in 1648 and most were given free of charge to magistrates and deputies who sat in the court. When a documentary collection of seventeenth-century Massachusetts laws was published in 1890, not a single copy could be found and it was consequently omitted from the volume. A few years later, one was discovered in England. It was purchased by Henry E. Huntington in 1911. In 1929 the Huntington and Harvard University Press published a line-by-line type facsimile of this unique book. To commemorate the 350th anniversary of this important milestone in the legal history of the United States, the Huntington published in 1998 a limited-edition facsimile of the 1929 volume. Illustrated with a reproduction of two pages from the original volume, the book is printed on fine quality paper with elegant binding and endpapers. An introduction by Professor Richard S. Dunn of the University of Pennsylvania explains the importance of this book to the formation of the American legal system. In addition to its obvious interest for any student of law or colonial history, the subject matter of many of its statutes will give the layman a revealing picture of everyday life in colonial America.

Americanization of the Common Law

Americanization of the Common Law PDF Author: William Edward Nelson
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 0820315877
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 301

Get Book Here

Book Description
Americanization of the Common Law remains one of the standard works on the transformation of law in America from the late colonial period to the end of the early republic. In a straightforward manner, William E. Nelson analyzes the profound ideological movement that grew out of the American Revolution and caused substantial structural change in the legal and social order of Massachusetts and, by extension, in the nation at large. The Revolution, Nelson argues, transformed a hierarchical and communitarian legal and social order into an egalitarian and individualistic one. For this edition, Nelson has written a new preface in which he discusses the book's initial reception and the relevant historiographical issues that have arisen since it was first published in 1975.

Colonial Origins of the American Constitution

Colonial Origins of the American Constitution PDF Author: Donald S. Lutz
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 448

Get Book Here

Book Description
Presents 80 documents selected to reflect Eric Voegelin's theory that in Western civilization basic political symbolizations tend to be variants of the original symbolization of Judeo-Christian religious tradition. These documents demonstrate the continuity of symbols preceding the writing of the Constitution and all contain a number of basic symbols such as: a constitution as higher law, popular sovereignty, legislative supremacy, the deliberative process, and a virtuous people. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Common Law in Colonial America

The Common Law in Colonial America PDF Author: William Edward Nelson
Publisher:
ISBN: 0199937753
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Get Book Here

Book Description
William E. Nelson's first volume of the four-volume The Common Law of Colonial America (2008) established a new benchmark for study of colonial era legal history. Drawing from both a rich archival base and existing scholarship on the topic, the first volume demonstrated how the legal systems of Britain's thirteen North American colonies-each of which had unique economies, political structures, and religious institutions -slowly converged into a common law order that differed substantially from English common law. The first volume focused on how the legal systems of the Chesapeake colonies--Virginia and Maryland--contrasted with those of the New England colonies and traced these dissimilarities from the initial settlement of America until approximately 1660. In this new volume, Nelson brings the discussion forward, covering the years from 1660, which saw the Restoration of the British monarchy, to 1730. In particular, he analyzes the impact that an increasingly powerful British government had on the evolution of the common law in the New World. As the reach of the Crown extended, Britain imposed far more restrictions than before on the new colonies it had chartered in the Carolinas and the middle Atlantic region. The government's intent was to ensure that colonies' laws would align more tightly with British law. Nelson examines how the newfound coherence in British colonial policy led these new colonies to develop common law systems that corresponded more closely with one another, eliminating much of the variation that socio-economic differences had created in the earliest colonies. As this volume reveals, these trends in governance ultimately resulted in a tension between top-down pressures from Britain for a more uniform system of laws and bottom-up pressures from colonists to develop their own common law norms and preserve their own distinctive societies. Authoritative and deeply researched, the volumes in The Common Law of Colonial America will become the foundational resource for anyone interested the history of American law before the Revolution.

Criminal Justice in Colonial America, 1606-1660

Criminal Justice in Colonial America, 1606-1660 PDF Author: Bradley Chapin
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 0820336912
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Get Book Here

Book Description
This study analyzes the development of criminal law during the first several generations of American life. Its comparison of the substantive and procedural law among the colonies reveals the similarities and differences between the New England and the Chesapeake colonies. Bradley Chapin addresses the often-debated question of the “reception” of English law and makes estimates of the relative weight of the sources and methods of early American law. A main theme of his book is that colonial legislators and judges achieved a significant reform of the English criminal law at a time when a parallel movement in England failed. The analysis is made specific and concrete by statistics that show patterns of prosecutions and crime rates. In addition to the exciting and convincing theme of a “lost period” of great creativity in American criminal law, Chapin gives a wealth of detail on statutory and common-law rulings, noteworthy criminal cases, and judicial views of how the law was to be administered. He provides social and economic explanations of shifts and peculiarities in the law, using carefully arranged evidence from the records. His treatment of the Quaker cases in Massachusetts and the witchcraft prosecutions in New England throws new light on those frequently misunderstood episodes. Chapin's book will be of interest not only to scholars working in the field but also to anyone curious about early American legal history.

Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony PDF Author: George Francis Dow
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486157857
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 415

Get Book Here

Book Description
Comprehensive, reliable account of 17th-century life in one of the country's earliest settlements. Contemporary records, over 100 historically valuable pictures vividly describe early dwellings, furnishings, medicinal aids, wardrobes, trade, crimes, more.

Women and the Law of Property in Early America

Women and the Law of Property in Early America PDF Author: Marylynn Salmon
Publisher: Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Get Book Here

Book Description
Women and the Law of Property in Early America