Time: Tue Jul 01 08:03:48 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id HAA18500; Tue, 1 Jul 1997 07:54:03 -0700 (MST) by usr03.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id HAA15243; Tue, 1 Jul 1997 07:53:48 -0700 (MST) Date: Tue, 01 Jul 1997 07:52:05 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: Tucker's Blackstone Note D now online <snip> > >----- >From: Jon Roland <jon.roland@the-spa.com> >Date: Tue, 1 Jul 1997 00:59:28 -0800 >Subject: IP: Tucker's Blackstone Note D now online > >Tucker's Blackstone Note D now online > >The classic exposition of English Common Law at the time of the founding >of the American Republic was Commentaries on the Laws of England, by >William Blackstone, which was used as a standard reference and law book >by lawyers, judges, and the Founders, who incorporated the applicable >provisions of it into the U.S. Constitution, especially for the >definitions of its terms. > >However, Blackstone's Commentaries were written for a monarchical system >of government, and needed to be adapted to the needs of the new republic. >This was first done by St. George Tucker, who taught law and who had >Blackstone's Commentaries republished together with his lecture notes >in 1803 in a 5-volume set familiarly known as Tucker's Blackstone. > >We are in the process of converting Tucker's Blackstone to HTML and text >files for placement on the Constitution Society Web site at > >http://www.constitution.org/tb/tb-0000.htm > >So far we have put up a preliminary version of Note D of Volume 1, which >are Tucker's commentaries on the U.S. Constitution, and the most >important part of the set for constitutional scholars. We have not yet >finished the footnote links, but we have decided to announce it at this >time to avoid any delays in people making use of it. The text files are >finished, and can be immediatly read and used. Note that a couple of the >footnotes are separate files that you will have to enter manually to >get the text versions of the HTML files, as the links to these have not >yet been entered. > >Tucker was originally an anti-federalist, but switched to support for >the Constitution when it was agreed to add a bill of rights to it. At >the time he wrote, however, the amendments were still being referred to >by the numbers assigned to them when they were proposed, not the numbers >later assigned to them after ten of the twelve were adopted, so in >reading this you need to substract two from the amendment numbers to >get the numbers we are familiar with today. > >Tucker's comments provide a number of insights into the consensus for >interpretation of the Constitution that prevailed shortly after its >ratification, after the debates had settled down and the Constitution >was put into practice. It is therefore an important reference for >argument concerning the original intent of the Founders concerning its >provisions, alongside such works as the Federalist and Madison's Notes >on the Debates in the Federal Convention (which were not published until >1840). It differs from the Federalist in that it is not a polemic >arguing for ratification, but a balanced exposition that explores the >remaining defects not corrected by the first amendments, some of which >remain to this day. It is remarkable to read some of Tucker's warnings >of the hazards to liberty that the young republic faced, warnings that >seem especially prescient in the light of recent events. > >We offer this work to you for your enjoyment and enlightenment, and hope >you will revisit to see how the rest of the conversion of Tucker's >Blackstone is coming. Also planned are Commentaries on American Law by >James Kent and Commentaries on the Constitution by Joseph Story. We will >be converting them piece by piece, beginning with what we consider the >most important sections to contemporary debate. > >Any errors are mine, and I hope you will inform me of any corrections >that need to be made. > >=================================================================== >Constitution Society, 1731 Howe Av #370, Sacramento, CA 95825 >916/568-1022, 916/450-7941VM Date: 07/01/97 Time: 00:59:30 >http://www.constitution.org/ mailto:jon.roland@the-spa.com >=================================================================== > > > >* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > > ``As long as I'm Mayor of this city the great industries of the > city are secure. We hear about constitutional rights, free > speech and free press. Every time I hear these words I say to > myself `that man is a Red, that man is a communist.' You never > heard a real American talk in that manner.'' > -- Mayor Frank Hague in an address befor the Jersey City > Chamber of Commerce, Jan. 12, 1938. Joursey Observer > (Hoboken, N.J.), Jan. 13, 1938, p. 1, col. 1. > >* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > > > ======================================================================== Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.2 on 586 CPU website: http://www.supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal. ======================================================================== [This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
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