John Adams and the Constitutional History of the Medieval British Empire

Description

This book contributes to the increasing interest in John Adams and his political and legal thought by examining his work on the medieval British Empire. For Adams, the conflict with England was constitutional because there was no British Empire, only numerous territories including the American colonies not consolidated into a constitutional structure. Each had a unique relationship to the English. In two series of essays he rejected the Parliament’s claim to legislate for the internal governance of the American colonies. His Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law (1765) identified these claims with the Yoke, Norman tyranny over the defeated Saxons after 1066. Parliament was seeking to treat the colonists in similar fashion. The Novanglus essays (1774-75), traced the origin of the colonies, demonstrating that Parliament played no role in their establishment and so had no role in their internal governance without the colonists’ subsequent consent. Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction: The Eighteenth Century and the Middle Ages (James Muldoon)....Pages 1-42 The Norman Yoke—Feudal Law (James Muldoon)....Pages 43-82 The Norman Yoke—Canon Law (James Muldoon)....Pages 83-117 Daniel Leonard and the Modern British Empire (James Muldoon)....Pages 119-156 Is There a British Empire? (James Muldoon)....Pages 157-171 Imperial Origins: Wales, Ireland, and America (James Muldoon)....Pages 173-207 Empire by Consent (James Muldoon)....Pages 209-245 Conclusion (James Muldoon)....Pages 247-261 Back Matter ....Pages 263-267