In a Defiant Stance: The Conditions of Law in Massachusetts Bay, the Irish Comparison, and the Coming of the American RevolutionThe 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. |
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... Ireland—History and criticism. 3. United States—History—Colonial period, ca. 1600–1775. 4. Ireland —History—18th century. I. Title KFM2478.R4 340'.09744 76–42453 Copyright © 1977 The Pennsylvania State University All rights reserved ...
... Ireland - History and criticism . 3. United States - History - Colonial period , ca. 1600-1775 . 4. Ireland -History -- 18th century . I. Title KFM2478.R4 340'.09744 76-42453 ISBN 0-271-01240-4 Copyright © 1977 The Pennsylvania State ...
... Ireland, that it is impossible to 'win' an irregular or guerrilla conflict while at the same time following all the rules of traditional common law.” 2 This comment, dated from the town of Lisburn in the North of Ireland during July ...
... Ireland all courts were controlled by the British government and what London promulgated these courts enforced. In North America the fact that the courts were influenced by colonial interests tells but part of the story. A more striking ...
... Have Set Up The Emergence of Whig Government 118 13 The Oppression of Centuries The Irish Comparison 135 14 A Most Dreadful Ruin The Legal Mind of British - Ruled Ireland 143 15 To Effect a Revolution The Execution of Imperial Law.
Contents
1 | |
7 | |
17 | |
27 | |
Juries Lie Open to Management The Uses of the Grand Jury | 41 |
In Defiance of the Threats The Criminal Traverse Jury | 55 |
Unless Laws Are Enforced The Legitimacy of Whig Law | 65 |
By Consent of the Council The Import of Local Control | 74 |
Disjointed and Independent of Each Other The Conditions of Imperial Law | 100 |
The Government They Have Set Up The Emergence of Whig Government | 118 |
The Oppression of Centuries The Irish Comparison | 135 |
A Most Dreadful Ruin The Legal Mind of BritishRuled Ireland | 143 |
To Effect a Revolution The Execution of Imperial Law | 150 |
Enforced by Mobs The Rule of Law | 160 |
Notes | 174 |
Acknowledgments | 219 |
The Seeds of Anarchy The Execution of Whig Law | 85 |
The Same Leaven with the People The Legal Mind of the American Whig | 92 |
Index | 220 |