The transformation of American law, 1780-1860 / Morton J. Horwitz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Horwitz, Morton J., 1938-

Series:

Studies in legal history.

Studies in legal history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Law--United States--History.

Law.

United States--History--19th century.

United States.

Physical Description:

xvii, 356 p.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 1977.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In a remarkable book based on prodigious research, Morton J. Horwitz offers a sweeping overview of the emergence of a national (and modern) legal system from English and colonial antecedents. He treats the evolution of the common law as intellectual history and also demonstrates how the shifting views of private law became a dynamic element in the economic growth of the United States. Horwitz's subtle and sophisticated explanation of societal change begins with the common law, which was intended to provide justice for all. The great breakpoint came after 1790 when the law was slowly transformed to favor economic growth and development. The courts spurred economic competition instead of circumscribing it. This new instrumental law flourished as the legal profession and the mercantile elite forged a mutually beneficial alliance to gain wealth and power. The evolving law of the early republic interacted with political philosophy, Horwitz shows. The doctrine of laissez-faire, long considered the cloak for competition, is here seen as a shield for the newly rich. By the 1840s the overarching reach of the doctrine prevented further distribution of wealth and protected entrenched classes by disallowing the courts very much power to intervene in economic life. This searching interpretation, which connects law and the courts to the real world, will engage historians in a new debate. For to view the law as an engine of vast economic transformation is to challenge in a stunning way previous interpretations of the eras of revolution and reform.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Acknowledgments

Contents

Introduction

I. The Emergence of an Instrumental Conception of Law

II. The Transformation in the Conception of Property

III. Subsidization of Economic Growth through the Legal System

IV. Competition and Economic Development

V. The Relation between the Bar and Commercial Interests

VI. The Triumph of Contract

VII. The Development of Commercial Law

VIII. The Rise of Legal Formalism

Notes

Index

STUDIES IN LEGAL HISTORY

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674903708

0674903706

9780674038783

0674038789

OCLC:

923116765