Musings From The Hinterland: Before The Barbecues

I wanted to wish you all a happy 4th of July (foreign and domestic). More than that, I wanted to share an interesting post I read this morning. Musings From The Hinterland: Before The Barbecues (Updated) (Updated Again) (Updated Yet Again To The Point Where The Updates Are Three Times As Long As The Original Post)

Although we celebrate our independence of Great Britain, our system of jurisprudence is derived from the great body of English common law. Indeed, to truly understand American law in so many areas, from real estate to court structure to trial practice to contracts, one must have a working knowledge of British law. In point of fact, a cursory review of the litany of complaints we had against George III, indicates that many were based upon his deprivation of the colonies of the protection of English law. As I’ve said on these pages before, in 1776, we just wanted to be considered Englishmen, with the rights and privileges appertaining thereto.

To think that the Lord Chief Justice of Great Britain would willingly sign away the rights of his countrymen to a system which, in virtually every respect, is the antithesis of English jurisprudence is something I never thought I’d see in my lifetime.