The minimum of violence accompanying the success of the American Revolution resulted in large part, argues this book, from the conditions of law the British allowed in the American colonies. By contrast, Ireland's struggle for independence was prolonged, bloody, and bitter largely because of the repressive conditions of law imposed by Britain. Examining the most rebellious American colony, Massachusetts Bay, Professor Reid finds that law was locally controlled while imperial law was almost nonexistent as an influence on the daily lives of individuals. In Ireland the same English common law, because of imperial control of legal machinery, produced an opposite result. The Irish were forced to resort to secret, underground violence. The author examines various Massachusetts Bay institutions to show the consequences of whig party control, in contrast to the situation in 18th-century Ireland. A general conclusion is that law, the conditions of positive law, and the matter of who controls the law may have more significant effects on the course of events than is generally assumed.

Originally published by the Macmillan Company in 1960, this book is intended as an introduction to the history of Massachusetts law in the colonial period, 1630ó1650. This volume first traces the evolution of the colony's institutions and instruments of government and, second, describes in broad outline certain aspects of the substantive law that developed in these first two decades.

Presents 80 documents selected to reflect Eric Voegelin's theory that in Western civilization basic political symbolizations tend to be variants of the original symbolization of Judeo-Christian religious tradition. These documents demonstrate the continuity of symbols preceding the writing of the Constitution and all contain a number of basic symbols such as: a constitution as higher law, popular sovereignty, legislative supremacy, the deliberative process, and a virtuous people. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Book of the General Lawes and Libertyes Concerning the Inhabitants of the Massachusets is the first compilation of laws and constitutional rights printed in English America. Six hundred copies were produced in 1648 and most were given free of charge to magistrates and deputies who sat in the court. When a documentary collection of seventeenth-century Massachusetts laws was published in 1890, not a single copy could be found and it was consequently omitted from the volume. A few years later, one was discovered in England. It was purchased by Henry E. Huntington in 1911. In 1929 the Huntington and Harvard University Press published a line-by-line type facsimile of this unique book. To commemorate the 350th anniversary of this important milestone in the legal history of the United States, the Huntington published in 1998 a limited-edition facsimile of the 1929 volume. Illustrated with a reproduction of two pages from the original volume, the book is printed on fine quality paper with elegant binding and endpapers. An introduction by Professor Richard S. Dunn of the University of Pennsylvania explains the importance of this book to the formation of the American legal system. In addition to its obvious interest for any student of law or colonial history, the subject matter of many of its statutes will give the layman a revealing picture of everyday life in colonial America.

Comprehensive, reliable account of 17th-century life in one of the country's earliest settlements. Contemporary records, over 100 historically valuable pictures vividly describe early dwellings, furnishings, medicinal aids, wardrobes, trade, crimes, more.