Includes "Table of cases determined in the Supreme Court of Iowa and published in v. 19-29 Iowa reports" (v. 5, Sept. 1871) and the Constitution and the Proceedings of the Iowa State Bar Association, 1874-78.

In 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.

Deals with the Professional Tradition of the historical development of English law as it influences the historians of Anglo-American law.

This concise primer offers an introduction to U.S. law from a comparative perspective, explaining not only the main features of American law and legal culture, but also how and why it differs from that of other countries. Students beginning LLM programs in the U.S., in particular international students, will find this primer invaluable reading.

Following its publication in 1974, Grant Gilmore's compact portrait of the development of American law from the eighteenth century to the mid-twentieth century became a classic. In this new edition, the portrait is brought up to date with a new chapter by Philip Bobbitt that surveys the trajectory of American law since the original publication. Bobbitt also provides a Foreword on Gilmore and the celebrated lectures that inspired The Ages of American Law. "Sharp, opinionated, and as pungent as cheddar."—New Republic "This book has the engaging qualities of good table talk among a group of sophisticated and educated friends—given body by broad learning and a keen imagination and spiced with wit."—Willard Hurst