The Cambridge History of Law in America, Volume 1: Early America (1580–1815)

Volume I of the Cambridge History of Law in America begins the account of law in America with the very first moments of European colonization and settlement of the North American landmass. It follows those processes across two hundred years to the eventual creation and stabilization of the American republic. The book discusses the place of law in regard to colonization and empire, indigenous peoples, government and jurisdiction, population migrations, economic and commercial activity, religion, the creation of social institutions, and revolutionary politics. The Cambridge History of Law in America has been made possible by the generous support of the American Bar Foundation. Volume 1 of The Cambridge History of Law in America begins the account of law in America with the very first moments of European colonization and settlement of the North American landmass. It follows those processes across two hundred years to the eventual creation and stabilization of the American republic. The book discusses the place of law in regard to colonization and empire, indigenous peoples, government and jurisdiction, population migrations, economic and commercial activity, religion, the creation of social institutions, and revolutionary politics. The Cambridge History of Law in America has been made possible by the generous support of the American Bar Foundation Colonization, the fate of the seaboard's indigenous peoples, the creation of structures of jurisdiction and governance, patterns of imperial communication, the migration (voluntary and involuntary) of peoples and the disciplines to which they were subject, the construction of essential social categories and institutions (families, labor forces, plantations, slavery), economic and commercial activity, religion, the strains and ruptures of empire, revolutionary and constitutional politics: these are the material and imaginative worlds of early American law. All this is encompassed in our first volume."--Jacket "American legal history has long treated the era of the founding of the republic and the early nineteenth century as its proper point of departure. Volume I of this History disputes that tendency, beginning our account of law in America with the very first moments of English colonization and settlement of the North American landmass. It follows those processes across 200 years to the eventual creation and stabilization of the American republic v. 1. Early America (1580-1815) v. 2. The long nineteenth century (1789-1920) v. 3. The twentieth century and after (1920- ).