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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... , THE IRISH COMPARISON , AND THE COMING OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION The Pennsylvania State University Press University Park and London Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Reid , John. This one 2TJL - DQK - TKKY.
... London newspaper the situation in the American colonies. Often, in fact, these very thoughts expressed by Major General Thomas Gage to his superiors at home during the years of crisis when the British army was assigned the task of ...
... 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 lesson lies in what happened to a special court—the vice-admiralty ...
... London newspaper the situation in the American colonies . Often , in fact , were these very thoughts expressed by Major General Thomas Gage to his superiors at home during the years of crisis when the British army was assigned the task ...
... judicial system reveals the imperial weakness . In Ireland all courts were controlled by the British government and what London promulgated these courts enforced . In North America the 2 IN THE VERY FACE OF GOVERNMENT.
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 |