Trace the birth of American law from the roots of English common law and Roman influence, and discover how legal education and civic freedom shaped a national system.
This edition presents Theodore W. Dwight’s 1858 address on municipal law, its origins, and the forces that formed its modern practice. It frames the evolution from the common law to a native system that protects individual rights while shaping legal education and professional practice.
- Origins of American jurisprudence in English law and the civil tradition.
- The balance between law as a science and law as an art, including the role of trial by jury.
- The education of lawyers and the path from study to practice in a busy modern world.
- Historical reflections on language, literature, and the shaping of law and society.
Ideal for readers interested in legal history, the origins of the American legal system, and the education of future lawyers.