Explore the controversial legal history of the formation of the United States Prestatehood Legal Materials is your one-stop guide to the history and development of law in the U.S. and the change from territory to statehood. Unprecedented in its coverage of territorial government, this book identifies a wide range of available resources from each state to reveal the underlying legal principles that helped form the United States. In this unique publication, a state expert compiles each chapter using his or her own style, culminating in a diverse sourcebook that is interesting as well as informative. In Prestatehood Legal Materials, you will find bibliographies, references, and discussion on a varied list of source materials, including: state codes drafted by Congress county, state, and national archives journals and digests state and federal reports, citations, surveys, and studies books, manuscripts, papers, speeches, and theses town and city records and documents Web sites to help your search for more information and more Prestatehood Legal Materials provides you with brief overviews of state histories from colonization to acceptance into the United States. In this book, you will see how foreign countries controlled the laws of these territories and how these states eventually broke away to govern themselves. The text also covers the legal issues with Native Americans, inter-state and the Mexico and Canadian borders, and the development of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of state government. This guide focuses on materials that are readily available to historians, political scientists, legal scholars, and researchers. Resources that assist in locating not-so-easily accessible materials are also covered. Special sections focus on the legal resources of colonial New York City and Washington, DC—which is still technically in its prestatehood stage. Due to the enormity of this project, the editor of Prestatehood Legal Materials created a Web page where updates, corrections, additions and more will be posted.

"[A] guide to the history and development of law in the U.S. and the change from territory to statehood"--Back cover.

The remains of Kaniakapp--King Kamehameha III's summer residence--bear no traces of the feast that once served ten thousand of his subjects gathered in celebration of Hawaiian sovereignty. Although not all historic Hawaii residences are still standing, the pictures, photographs, and comprehensive maps in this book can provide a wealth of knowledge. Discover the site of Queen Ka'ahumanu's death, Princess Ruth Ke'eliklani's house, which rivaled the splendor of King Kalkaua's official palace, and Lili'uokalani's home, where Robert Wilcox plotted an armed insurrection to overthrow the Constitution of 1887. Using accounts by missionaries, ship captains, early visitors, and reports in English and Hawaiian-language media, this groundbreaking book provides an extensive look into the now-lost residences of the kingdom's elite. Learn about the historic events that took place in the residences of Hawaiian royalty and see how the island chiefs lived their everyday lives.