Law has played a central role in American history. From colonial times
to the present, law has not just reflected the changing society in which
legal decisions have been made-it has played a powerful role in shaping
that society, though not always in positive ways.
In this Very Short Introduction, eminent legal scholar G. Edward
White--author of the ongoing, multi-volume Law in American
History--offers a compact overview that sheds light on the impact of
law on a number of key social issues. Rather than offer a straight
chronological history, the audiobook instead traces important threads
woven throughout our nation's past, looking at how law shaped Native
American affairs, slavery, business, and home life, as well as how it
has dealt with criminal and civil offenses.
White shows that law has not always been used to exemplary ends. For
instance, a series of decisions by the Marshall court essentially
marginalized Amerindians, indigenous people of the Americas, reducing
tribes to wards of the government. Likewise, law initially legitimated
slavery in the United States, and legal institutions, including the
Supreme Court, failed to resolve the tensions stirred up by the westward
expansion of slavery, eventually sparking the Civil War.
White also looks at the expansion of laws regarding property rights,
which were vitally important to the colonists, many of whom left Europe
hoping to become land owners; the evolution of criminal punishment from
a public display (the stocks, the gallows) to a private prison system;
the rise of tort law after the Civil War; and the progress in legal
education, moving from informal apprenticeships and lax standards to
modern law schools and rigorous bar exams.
In this illuminating look at the pivotal role of law in American life,
White offers us an excellent first step to a better appreciation of the
function of law in our society.
The accompanying reference guide is included as a PDF on this disc.
