“The Least Dangerous Branch”: The British Common Law’s Influence on the Development of the US Constitution’s Article III
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Authors
Stanley, Hannah
Issue Date
2025-08-25
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Academic theses , History , Constitution (United States) , Judicial process , Common law , Judiciary Act of 1789 (United States) , Year books (English law reports) , Sons of the American Revolution , Hearne, Thomas, active 17th century-18th century , England , American Revolution (United States : 1775-1783) , United States. Supreme Court
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Abstract
When examining the Constitution of the United States, it is easy to overlook Article III. After all, it is the shortest of the branch-dedicated articles, so it easy to assume that there was less time and energy devoted to its crafting. This is incorrect. Article III, and the later Judiciary Act of 1789, are the results of lessons learned, dating back thousands of years. The prior courts, namely the English and colonial courts, were profound influences on the Framers when crafting Article III of the Constitution and the Judiciary Act of 1789, the two documents that effectively created the Supreme Court of the United States. The only legal system that most of the Framers (and the populace of the newly formed country) were intimately familiar with was English common law. This necessitated the use of common law procedures within the newly constructed United States, but there was also a need to adjust the common law to the realities of life in America. The common law informed the Framers in the forming of the Supreme Court and the inferior courts of the United States. The creation of Article III and the Judiciary Act of 1789 was made up of the lessons of the past in order to create a successful justice system. Using primary source documents, I will argue that both the successes and failures of the courts that came before, dating back to the Norman conquest, were considered in the creation of a new judicial procedure.
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This dissertation is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, revised in 1976). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of the materials for financial gain with the author's expressed written permissions is not allowed.