LEADER 03859nam 2200613Ia 450 001 9910808816503321 005 20240416152635.0 010 $a0-674-90370-6 010 $a0-674-03878-9 024 7 $a10.4159/9780674038783 035 $a(CKB)1000000000805703 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000261312 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11213514 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000261312 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10256597 035 $a(PQKB)11529080 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3300765 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10331353 035 $a(OCoLC)923116765 035 $a(DE-B1597)590529 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780674038783 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3300765 035 $a(dli)HEB07880 035 $a(MiU)MIU01000000000000009826688 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000805703 100 $a19821205d1977 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 14$aThe transformation of American law, 1780-1860 /$fMorton J. Horwitz 205 $a1st ed. 210 $aCambridge, MA $cHarvard University Press$d1977 215 $axvii, 356 p 225 1 $aStudies in legal history 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-674-90371-4 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $tFrontmatter -- $tAcknowledgments -- $tContents -- $tIntroduction -- $tI. The Emergence of an Instrumental Conception of Law -- $tII. The Transformation in the Conception of Property -- $tIII. Subsidization of Economic Growth through the Legal System -- $tIV. Competition and Economic Development -- $tV. The Relation between the Bar and Commercial Interests -- $tVI. The Triumph of Contract -- $tVII. The Development of Commercial Law -- $tVIII. The Rise of Legal Formalism -- $tNotes -- $tIndex -- $tSTUDIES IN LEGAL HISTORY 330 $aIn a remarkable book based on prodigious research, Morton J. Horwitz offers a sweeping overview of the emergence of a national (and modern) legal system from English and colonial antecedents. He treats the evolution of the common law as intellectual history and also demonstrates how the shifting views of private law became a dynamic element in the economic growth of the United States. Horwitz's subtle and sophisticated explanation of societal change begins with the common law, which was intended to provide justice for all. The great breakpoint came after 1790 when the law was slowly transformed to favor economic growth and development. The courts spurred economic competition instead of circumscribing it. This new instrumental law flourished as the legal profession and the mercantile elite forged a mutually beneficial alliance to gain wealth and power. The evolving law of the early republic interacted with political philosophy, Horwitz shows. The doctrine of laissez-faire, long considered the cloak for competition, is here seen as a shield for the newly rich. By the 1840s the overarching reach of the doctrine prevented further distribution of wealth and protected entrenched classes by disallowing the courts very much power to intervene in economic life. This searching interpretation, which connects law and the courts to the real world, will engage historians in a new debate. For to view the law as an engine of vast economic transformation is to challenge in a stunning way previous interpretations of the eras of revolution and reform. 410 0$aStudies in legal history. 606 $aLaw$zUnited States$xHistory 607 $aUnited States$xHistory$y19th century 615 0$aLaw$xHistory. 676 $a347.3 700 $aHorwitz$b Morton J.$f1938-$0292011 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910808816503321 996 $aTransformation of American law$9961396 997 $aUNINA