The Lost World of Classical Legal Thought : Law and Ideology in America, 1886-1937

This book examines the ideology of elite lawyers and judges from the Gilded Age through the New Deal. Between 1866 and 1937, a coherent outlook shaped the way the American bar understood the sources of law, the role of the courts, and the relationship between law and the larger society. William M. Wiecek explores this outlook--often called "legal orthodoxy" or "classical legal thought"--which assumed that law was apolitical, determinate, objective, and neutral. American classical legal thought was forged in the heat of the social crises that punctuated the late nineteenth century. Fearing labor unions, immigrants, and working people generally, American elites, including those on the bench and bar, sought ways to repress disorder and prevent political majorities from using democratic processes to redistribute wealth and power. Classical legal thought provided a rationale that assured the legitimacy of the extant distribution of society's resources. It enabled the legal suppression of unions and the subordination of workers to management's authority. As the twentieth-century U.S. economy grew in complexity, the antiregulatory, individualistic bias of classical legal thought became more and more distanced from reality. Brittle and dogmatic, legal ideology lost legitimacy in the eyes of both laypeople and ever-larger segments of the bar. It was at last abandoned in the "constitutional revolution of 1937", but--as Wiecek argues in this detailed analysis--nothing has arisen since to replace it as an explanation of what law is and why courts have such broad power in a democratic society. Contents......Page 10 Prologue: The Challenge of Classical Legal Thought......Page 14 One: The Foundations of Classical Legal Thought, 1760–1860......Page 30 Two: The Emergence of Legal Classicism, 1860–1890......Page 75 Three: Classicism Ascendant, 1880–1930......Page 134 Four: Classicism Contested, 1893–1932......Page 186 Five: The Collapse of Legal Classicism, 1930–1942......Page 229 Epilogue......Page 257 Appendix: Historiography and the Supreme Court......Page 264 B......Page 289 D......Page 290 F......Page 291 I......Page 292 M......Page 293 P......Page 294 S......Page 295 W......Page 296 Z......Page 297 The Lost World Of Classical Legal Thought Examines The Ideology Of Elite Lawyers And Judges From The Gilded Age Through The New Deal. Between 1866 And 1937, A Coherent Outlook Shaped The Way The American Bar Understood The Sources Of Law, The Role Of The Courts, And The Relationship Between Law And The Larger Society. William M. Wiecek Explores This Outlook - Often Called Legal Orthodoxy Or Classical Legal Thought - Which Assumed That Law Was Apolitical, Determinate, Objective, And Neutral.--book Jacket. William M. Wiecek. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents 10 Prologue: The Challenge of Classical Legal Thought 14 One: The Foundations of Classical Legal Thought, 1760–1860 30 Two: The Emergence of Legal Classicism, 1860–1890 75 Three: Classicism Ascendant, 1880–1930 134 Four: Classicism Contested, 1893–1932 186 Five: The Collapse of Legal Classicism, 1930–1942 229 Epilogue 257 Appendix: Historiography and the Supreme Court 264 Index 289 A 289 B 289 C 290 D 290 E 291 F 291 G 292 H 292 I 292 J 293 K 293 L 293 M 293 N 294 O 294 P 294 R 295 S 295 T 296 U 296 V 296 W 296 X 297 Y 297 Z 297 This volume examines legal ideology in the US from the height of the Gilded Age through the time of the New Deal, when the Supreme Court began to discard orthodox thought in favour of more modernist approaches to law. Wiecek places this era of legal thought in its historical context, integrating social, economic, and intellectual analyses Classical legal thought did not appear suddenly and without precedent in 1890, nor was it an innovation.