{"title":"English Foundations of American Law, 1500s–1776","authors":"John B. Nann, Morris L. Cohen","doi":"10.12987/YALE/9780300118537.003.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12987/YALE/9780300118537.003.0003","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter describes current sources and techniques useful for finding seventeenth- and eighteenth-century laws of England and introduces some methods an attorney in England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries might have used. Before researchers can find the law, they must know what was considered to be the source of law in the period being investigated. Reporting, publishing, and finding cases has been important in English law for centuries. Parliamentary enactments during the colonial period also play an important part in the framework surrounding any particular legal issue. Meanwhile, English law is built on a foundation of common law, which is built on case law. As such, finding cases that relate to a particular topic is critical in research. A good case-finding option is a digest of cases; these have been written over the centuries, as have abridgments and treatises on particular areas of law.","PeriodicalId":209770,"journal":{"name":"The Yale Law School Guide to Research in American Legal History","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131869597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Nonlaw Research","authors":"John B. Nann, Morris L. Cohen","doi":"10.12987/yale/9780300118537.003.0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12987/yale/9780300118537.003.0012","url":null,"abstract":"This concluding chapter explores several types of nonlaw resources for legal history research. Since the law defines the relationships that people have with the state and, frequently, with each other, it is intimately related to many other areas of scholarship and inquiry. Legal researchers will often have to expand their research beyond the law and delve into politics, sociology, economics, psychology, current or historical events, and many other areas. The list of nonlaw resources offered in the chapter is not exhaustive but includes the most important and frequently used sources: newspapers; periodical literature, monographs and dissertations; statistical resources; and public records. There are many guides to research in each of these areas. Indeed, many academic libraries provide topical research guides for free on their websites. For more in-depth guidance, researchers should use library catalogs.","PeriodicalId":209770,"journal":{"name":"The Yale Law School Guide to Research in American Legal History","volume":"110 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133036484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}