American Legal History: Cases and Materials - Softcover

Hall, Kermit L.; Wiecek, William M.; Finkelman, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195059085 ISBN 13: 9780195059083

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1991

Synopsis

Approaching American legal history from a new perspective, this text employs cases and other legal documents to reveal the law's underlying culture. American Legal History provides a comprehensive selection of the most important documents--well over 170--which integrate the history of public and private law from America's colonial origins to the present. It devotes special attention to the interaction of social and legal change, shows how legal ideas developed in tandem with specific historical events, and reveals a rich legal culture unique to America. Introductions and explanations accompany each document, tying legal developments to broader historical themes and providing a social and political context essential to an understanding of the history of law in America. Offering a thorough examination of both public and private law, American Legal History is essential for students and teachers of constitutional and legal history, the judicial process, and the effects of law on society.

About this title

About the Author:

Kermit L. Hall (1944-2006) was President of the University at Albany, State University of New York.

Paul Finkelman is the John E. Murray Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

James W. Ely, Jr., is Milton R. Underwood Professor of Law, Emeritus, and Professor of History, Emeritus, at Vanderbilt University.

Review:

"The hardest part about teaching legal history is introducing students to the 'art and craft of the law.' By providing them with digestible excerpts that I can spend hours dissecting after, this text makes that part of my job much easier."--Oliver Lee Bateman, University of Texas at Arlington

"This book sets the standard against which all other document and materials books in the field are judged. It is the leading book, and rightly so."--Thomas C. Mackey, University of Louisville

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0195059085
• ISBN 13: 9780195059083
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 624