law and the american revolution

A detailed Summary of law and the american revolution

English law, structure and traditions, was the basis for the early American justice system. The biggest influence on American law was English common-law or judge made law as it is sometimes called. English Common-law is legal precedent based on judges rulings in different courts in England such as: "Kings Bench which dealt with crimes, the Court of Common Pleas which dealt with disputes over property and personal injuries, and the Court of Exchequer which had jurisdiction over disputes arising out of tax collection". Less serious crimes were normally disposed of in what English and early America called local courts, a.k.a. Justice of the Peace. We also borrowed from the English court system a court that handled disputes of small amounts of money this is what we call today Small Claims Court. The English also had various other local courts that the colonies used as well.

Codified laws or that is to say laws that are written down in a book of codes or body of laws were used by some of the more organized colonies. These codified laws were also loosely based on English law not to say that we took their laws and directly copied them down but suffice to say that most were directly related to English law. The colonies put their own

American constitutional wisdom and political ideas stemmed from English traditions and forms of government. Since the colonies were far removed from England and its authority the colonies were left to fend for themselves for the first fifty or so years. At the time colonists did not realize what great an opportunity they were given. They were handed a golden chance to create a loosely English based but new form of government. This was the beginning of what we call today America. Because the colonists were left to their own devices they developed and nurtured a cultural heritage of their own. "Proudly claiming the rights of Englishman, Americans, identified those rights with their own legal and political institutions, which, though similar to England's, retains significant differences especially the absence of a hereditary aristocracy, the greater degree of religious Liberty, and the broader political participation that characterized Colonial life".

Initially there were three types of colonies in America: charter, proprietary and royal. A charter colony was settled by individual companies that received a document (charter) from the King giving them land and authority to form a specific government. The second, proprietary gave certain individuals a similar document and in both cases the King did not have the authority to name governors and other political officials. The third, royal colony was under direct authority of the King, he appointed governors and other political appointments.

Arriving at one reason for the American Revolution would be nearly impossible. Although, most reasons such as: taxation without representation, Stamp

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Approximate Word count = 1117
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History