Based on a detailed examination of New York case law, this pathbreaking
book shows how law, politics, and ideology in the state changed in
tandem between 1920 and 1980. Early twentieth-century New York was the
scene of intense struggle between white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant upper
and middle classes located primarily in the upstate region and the
impoverished, mainly Jewish and Roman Catholic, immigrant underclass
centered in New York City. Beginning in the 1920s, however, judges such
as Benjamin N. Cardozo, Henry J. Friendly, Learned Hand, and Harlan
Fiske Stone used law to facilitate the entry of the underclass into the
economic and social mainstream and to promote tolerance among all New
Yorkers.
Ultimately, says William Nelson, a new legal ideology was created. By
the late 1930s, New Yorkers had begun to reconceptualize social conflict
not along class lines but in terms of the power of majorities and the
rights of minorities. In the process, they constructed a new approach to
law and politics. Though doctrinal change began to slow by the 1960s,
the main ambitions of the legalist reformation--liberty, equality, human
dignity, and entrepreneurial opportunity--remain the aspirations of
nearly all Americans, and of much of the rest of the world, today.
"This splendid book . . . sets a new and very high standard for studies
of American legal history in the twentieth century.--American
Historical Review
"Drawing on a beautifully detailed study of thousands of court opinions
and life in New York, William Nelson reveals how twentieth century
common law jurists brought together the diverse racial, ethnic, and
religious factions in the state.--Harvard Law Review
"Nelson's vision is expansive, his research prodigious, his analysis
insightful, and his achievement impressive. . . . This fresh research is
scholarship of the first order, in itself a major
contribution.--Journal of American History
"Nowhere is the concept of the law as an evolving, dynamic, and
progressive force in modern American society better espoused than in
this seminal, exhaustive piece of legal and historical
research.--Library Journal
Based on a detailed examination of New York case law, The Legalist
Reformation traces the efforts of citizens of diverse racial, ethnic,
and religious backgrounds to live together in the state during the past
century. William Nelson argues that the most powerful instrument
facilitating these efforts has been the law of New York--law proclaimed
largely by judges such as Benjamin N. Cardozo, Henry J. Friendly, and
Learned Hand rather than by legislators or federal officials.
Furthermore, the legal ideology outlined by New York jurists has become
a standard for justice worldwide among diverse cultures whose people,
like New Yorkers, are striving to coexist.
