The Spirit Of American Law An Anthology

Intended for the general public, the readings in this collection explore the roots of American law from pre-history to ancient Greece and Rome and the common law of England. America's legal development is traced from the drafting of the Constitution to the Rehnquist Court. Themes along the way include the ?Golden Age? of the early nineteenth century, when American law took on its distinctive character, the impact of slavery and the Civil War, and the struggles of the Progressives to regulate the nation's industrialized economy between the post-Civil War era and the New Deal. A reading on the Nuremberg Trials introduces the theme of international human rights, while post-war readings trace the nation's legal confrontations over civil liberties, civil rights, the rights of women, the protection of the environment, and legal protections for those accused of crimes. Dramatic highlights include the Sacco-Vanzetti case, the internment of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War, the trial of the ?Chicago Eight? during the Vietnam War, and the Watergate scandal. Leading personalities include Sirs Edward Coke and William Blackstone in England, Chief Justices John Marshall and Earl Warren, Justices Stephen J. Field, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Louis D. Brandeis, and Felix Frankfurter, and Judge Learned Hand. Readings on the future of American law explore the impact of alternative dispute resolution, science and technology, globalization, and space exploration, as well as trends in the legal profession and in legal philosophy.

The Roots of American Law * The Origins of Law * Ancient Law * Medieval Europe * The Rights of Englishmen * Clarifying English Law The Growth of American Law * From Thirteen Colonies to United States * Federalists versus Republicans * The Golden Age * The Jacksonian Era * Slavery * The Civil War * Reconstruction and Formalism * The Life of the Law * The Progressive Movement * Federal Regulation * War and Civil Liberties * The 1920s and the New Deal * War and Civil Liberties II * The Aftermath of War * The Cold War * The Civil Rights Revolution * The Warren Court * The Vietnam War * From Protests to Scandals * The Expansion of Civil Rights * Consumerism and Environmentalism * The Late Twentieth Century American Law in the Twenty-first Century * The Legal Profession * Access to Law * Science and Technology * The World Community * The Last Frontier * Legal Philosophy

George S Grossman