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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 33
... Suffolk county grand jury while he was chief justice of the superior court , " are , it is true , during Pleasure ; —but when we consider by whom our Judicatories are appointed , we shall find that we approach very near the Priviledge ...
... county , not an easy task as Boston's dislike of customs officials was not always shared with the same intensity by the inland farm communities of Suffolk county . Yet there was enough 28 DEMOCRACY IS TOO PREVALENT IN AMERICA.
... Suffolk county . Yet there was enough unity of purpose for tories to believe that a Bostonian could boast that the whigs " would always be sure of Eleven jury men in Twelve . ” 5 After 1765 , a tory juror would probably have to come ...
... Suffolk county jury . There , if we believe the governor , and it seems reasonable to do so , " the chief subject of the harangues of the council for the plaintiff ( and some of the judges too ) were on the expediency of discouraging a ...
... Suffolk county jury could express popular dislike for the Stamp Act by returning a verdict of " guilty " and , in theory at least , would be holding that , as a matter of law , the Stamp Act was unconstitutional . Because of the ...
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 |