Difference between revisions of "American Independence and English Common Law"
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The words of Americans Henry and Otis in 1760 foreshadowed the colonists reasons for secession from England. Their desire to enjoy the same rights as those subjects living in England and the same liberties that were protected by English Common Law was at the core. We can, therefore, legitimately trace the American movement for independence to the origins of England’s Common Law. It transformed England from feudal anarchy to a constitutional society and set the expectations of those who settled America. This Common Law represented to the English and their spin-offs, a guarantee of inalienable rights. It was the legal recognition of such rights and it placed the rule of law above the rule of men. | The words of Americans Henry and Otis in 1760 foreshadowed the colonists reasons for secession from England. Their desire to enjoy the same rights as those subjects living in England and the same liberties that were protected by English Common Law was at the core. We can, therefore, legitimately trace the American movement for independence to the origins of England’s Common Law. It transformed England from feudal anarchy to a constitutional society and set the expectations of those who settled America. This Common Law represented to the English and their spin-offs, a guarantee of inalienable rights. It was the legal recognition of such rights and it placed the rule of law above the rule of men. | ||
| − | The foundation of Common Law was laid by the Plantagenet King Henry II in opposition to localized courts run by the Lord of the Manor and the Church. Without the Norman invasion of William the Conqueror (Henry II’s great grandfather), in which he defeated | + | The foundation of Common Law was laid by the Plantagenet King Henry II in opposition to localized courts run by the Lord of the Manor and the Church. Without the Norman invasion of William the Conqueror (Henry II’s great grandfather), in which he defeated England’s King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings (1066), England would likely have remained in a Continental state of Baronial feudalism for perhaps centuries more (as did much of the Continent),and the colonies in America would have been denied their rallying principle for independence. |
It is a long thread from the Battle of Hastings in 1066 to the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776. | It is a long thread from the Battle of Hastings in 1066 to the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776. | ||
Revision as of 17:45, 7 December 2013
" 'Government is a conditional compact between king and people. A violation of the covenant by either party discharges the other from its obligation.' 'An Act [of Parliament] against the Constitution is void.' In these thirty words Patrick Henry and James Otis denied the divine origin of the British kingship and the legislative supremacy of the British Parliament, and substituted therefor the Common Law and the eternal rights of man." 2013/12/05 User:WikiSysop
