Difference between revisions of "User:Fwding/Sandbox"

From Wythepedia: The George Wythe Encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
 
(29 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
−
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Hyperinflation and Debt in Virginia Before and During the Revolution''}}
+
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''An Introduction to ''Wythe's Reports}}
 
__NOTOC__
 
__NOTOC__
−
Beginning in the 17th century, the American colonies began printing their own paper money to settle debts due to a lack of coins coming from Great Britain. This paper money was a promise from the colony that the paper's holder could exchange it to the colonial government for the amount of coin listed. The crown was not pleased with the development, because as far as it was concerned, only the king could issue money. London's irritation was not enough to lead it to do something, though, so the practice continued successfully until the buildup to the Revolutionary War. The colonies printed more money to fund the Revolution in hopes that it would end quickly and give the colonies time to find coins to back up the paper money. As the Revolution continued with no end in sight, the problems began.<ref>Richard G. Doty, [http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/summer03/pay.cfm "Promises to Pay, Promises Unkept,"] ''Colonial Williamsburg Journal'' (Summer 2003).</ref>
 
  
−
Virginia's financial situation during the Revolution was dire. Much of the money raised by taxes in previous years had gone straight to the Royal Treasury, leaving the colonial government strapped for cash. On top of that, many Virginia farmers and plantation owners were laden with crippling debts to English merchants. These debts were huge and could usually be inherited, so that several generations of many Virginia families found themselves in hock to London merchants. Thomas Jefferson estimated that Virginians owed British merchants over £2 million.<ref>Isaac S. Harrell, "Some Neglected Phases of the Revolution in Virginia", ''William & Mary Quarterly'' 2nd Series 5(3) (July 1925): 159, 167.</ref> To add insult to injury, money printed in Virginia was quickly losing its value against the British pound sterling,<ref>Harrell, 166. Wythe estimated that when Virginians started paying debts to the Loan Office, the money was worth between 1/70 or 1/1000 of its value when the debtor originally incurred the debt. Wythe 211, 217 footnote f.</ref> and many collectors refused to accept Virginia paper money to settle debts with English merchants.<ref>Emory G. Evans, "Private Indebtedness and the Revolution in Virginia, 1776 to 1796", ''William & Mary Quarterly'' 3rd Series 28(3) (July 1971): 349, 352.</ref>
+
Some of the United States' Founders are better-known than others. Washington and Jefferson are always present in the popular mind. Before Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical, asking the average modern American about Alexander Hamilton would likely get a mumbled reply about the ten-dollar bill. One of the more obscure Founders is George Wythe. Today, if anyone encounters Wythe, it is usually as a supporting character in other Founders' stories: mentor, teacher, and friend to Jefferson; or committee chair calling for Virginia to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
  
−
On November 27, 1777, the Continental Congress passed a resolution recommending that the states seize and sell loyalists' property.<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field%28DOCID+@lit%28jc00950%29%29 9 ''Journals of the Continental Congress'' 971 (Nov. 27, 1777).]</ref> In response, the Virginia Assembly passed a law sequestering British property that passed on January 22, 1778; the British owner kept the title to the property, but the Virginia government would administer the property and collect any profits from it.<ref>Ch. 9, 9 Hening 377 (Oct. 1777 Session).</ref> This law included a program designed by Jefferson to help relieve Virginians of their British debts; a Virginia citizen could pay any money they owed a British subject to the recently-formed Virginia Loan Office instead. The Virginia Loan Office would give the Virginia debtor a certificate of payment that would relieve the debtor of any obligation to repay that debt.<ref>Wythe took advantage of this program to relieve a debt of £20. Evans, 355.</ref> The 1778 law said nothing about whether the Virginia government was required to pay the British creditor.<ref>Evans, 352-53; 9 Hening, 379-80.</ref>
+
But Wythe played an important role in the United States's early days. William & Mary's -- and the United States' -- first law professor, he was a man of great integrity who greatly influenced some of the fledgling country's most important figures with jurisprudential ideas that were often ahead of their time. Why do Americans not know more about this teacher, judge, delegate to the Second Continental Congress, and signer of the Declaration of Independence? One reason may be a lack of documentation. Thomas Jefferson said he had often seen Wythe toss the documents he created while working on a case into the fire upon the case's conclusion.<ref>Kirtland, 5-6.</ref> The notes Wythe made as William & Mary's Professor of Law and Police scattered to places unknown long ago.<ref>For more information on the fate of Wythe's personal papers, see the Wythepedia article [[Wythe's Lost Papers]].</ref>
  
−
The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1783) Treaty of Paris]<ref>8 Stat. 80 (1783).</ref> that ended the Revolutionary War included a provision that all genuine debts Americans owed British merchants before the war were to be paid in British pounds sterling.<ref>Harrell, 169.</ref>
+
We do, however, have the collection of decisions he handed while sitting on the bench of Virginia's High Court of Chancery.  Wythe compiled a book of these cases, now known as ''Wythe's Reports''.<ref>George Wythe, ''[[Wythe's Reports|Decisions of Cases in Virginia by the High Court of Chancery]]'' (Richmond: Printed by Thomas Nicolson, 1795).</ref> Several decades after Wythe died, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Blake_Minor Benjamin Blake Minor] edited a second edition of the ''Reports'' that added some more decisions Wythe intended to be published.<ref>George Wythe, ''[[Wythe's Reports|Decisions of Cases in Virginia by the High Court of Chancery with Remarks upon Decrees by the Court of Appeals, Reversing Some of Those Decisions|Decisions of Cases in Virginia by the High Court of Chancery]],'' 2nd ed., ed. B.B. Minor (Richmond: J.W. Randolph, 1852).</ref>
  
−
In 1787, the Virginia Assembly passed a law stating that it would only be liable for debts that Virginia debtors had paid to the Virginia Loan Office up to the original amount of the debt plus six percent interest, and that it would pay in Virginia paper money.<ref>Ch. 34, 12 Hening 529 (Oct. 1787 Session), ''citing'' Ch. 22, 10 Hening 471 (Nov. 1781 Session).</ref> So, if a Virginian incurred a debt from a British merchant for 5,000 British pounds sterling in 1770, then paid £5,000 to the Virginia Loan Office in 1778, the state of Virginia would only be liable for £5,000 plus six percent interest per year, payable in Virginia paper money (which was still worth considerably less than British pounds sterling at that time).
+
The ''Reports'' contain cases that Wythe heard as Virginia's High Chancellor, the judge who sat on the commonwealth's High Court of Chancery, a court of equity. In the Anglo-American legal system, equity developed as an alternative set of remedies to the common law system; equity was supposed to provide a soultion when the common law outcome would not provide proper justice. In the early days of the United States, many states had separate courts to hear equity cases. Equity cases usually involved property, contract, and inheritance disputes, so those are the cases the reader will find in ''Wythe's Reports''. Wythepedia has created pages for each of the decisions in the ''Reports'' summarizing the case and its background and explaining references to sources Wythe cited. We can think of ''Wythe's Reports'' as his version of a casebook, the textbooks that modern law students are familiar with. Wythe excerpts and summarizes the court's decisions, sometimes including subsequent appeals to other courts, then comments on them. Wythe hopes that by reading his commentaries on the courts' decisions, future lawyers and students of law will reach a better understanding of the law as it was in Virginia and how he thought it ''should'' be.  
  
−
Several of the cases at Wythe's High Court of Chancery involved British debtors who wanted to be paid the full value of their debt suing Virginia debtors who asserted that their debt had been cleared by a payment to the Virginia Loan Office. Wythe demonstrated his integrity by requiring the debtor to honor the British debt. Wythe was hardly a fan of the British crown, but in the case of ''[[Page v. Pendleton]]'', Wythe said that under the law of the United States, British debts from before the War must be honored. To hold otherwise, Wythe thought, would be to succumb to basest demagoguery. Wythe's decision was deeply unpopular at the time, but the U.S. Supreme Court would agree with him years later in the case of ''Ware v. Hylton''.<ref>3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 199 (1796).</ref>
+
Wythe's ''Reports'' demands a lot from its readers. Wythe frequently cited or alluded to Ancient Greek and Latin works (often in their original language, with no English translation), as well as more recent classic authors such as Cervantes, Dante, and Shakespeare. He frequently used shorthand references and terms of art that lawyers of his era would understand, but which 21st-century readers may find baffling. Wythe frequently left out information such as how the case arrived before him or facts that Wythe found irrelevant to the point he was trying to make. Often, if a Wythe decision was appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, that higher court's opinion would be a better source for the facts of the case.
 +
 
 +
Properly understanding Wythe's decisions also means knowing their historical context. Many of the cases Wythe decided were influenced by events that were familiar to educated people in his day, but are esoteric history to modern Americans. Wythe also believed that Roman law principles were sometimes superior to English legal precedent, and cautioned against blindly following England's caselaw. Wythe believed, as did many of his contemporaries, that as a new country, the United States might wish to follow European-style civil law principles rather than Anglo common law.<ref>Timothy G. Kearley, "From Rome to the Restatement", ''Law Library Journal'' 108(1) (Winter 2016): 60.</ref>
 +
 
 +
Another important piece of subtext lurking within ''Wythe's Reports'' is its author's long rivalry with [[Edmund Pendleton]], President of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Wythe had arguably the most brilliant jurisprudential mind of his generation, and he was rarely defeated when he argued a case. The gregarious Pendleton, however, was a master litigator and one of the few people capable of defeating Wythe in court. As President of the Supreme Court, Pendleton reversed a substantial number of Wythe's decisions.
 +
 
 +
Wythepedia articles on the cases in ''Wythe's Reports'' summarize the case, and include notes and links to useful articles that can better explain the conflict and reasoning in the case. Wythepedia also includes articles that fill in the background behind a number of these decisions. ''Wythe's Reports'' can be a treatise on Virginia law and equity, a snapshot of life in Virginia during the late 18th century, and a profile of one of this nation's most underappreciated Founders. We hope you find our case summaries useful.
 +
==References==
 +
<references/>
 +
 
 +
==References==
 +
<references/>

Latest revision as of 15:31, 26 May 2017


Some of the United States' Founders are better-known than others. Washington and Jefferson are always present in the popular mind. Before Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical, asking the average modern American about Alexander Hamilton would likely get a mumbled reply about the ten-dollar bill. One of the more obscure Founders is George Wythe. Today, if anyone encounters Wythe, it is usually as a supporting character in other Founders' stories: mentor, teacher, and friend to Jefferson; or committee chair calling for Virginia to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

But Wythe played an important role in the United States's early days. William & Mary's -- and the United States' -- first law professor, he was a man of great integrity who greatly influenced some of the fledgling country's most important figures with jurisprudential ideas that were often ahead of their time. Why do Americans not know more about this teacher, judge, delegate to the Second Continental Congress, and signer of the Declaration of Independence? One reason may be a lack of documentation. Thomas Jefferson said he had often seen Wythe toss the documents he created while working on a case into the fire upon the case's conclusion.[1] The notes Wythe made as William & Mary's Professor of Law and Police scattered to places unknown long ago.[2]

We do, however, have the collection of decisions he handed while sitting on the bench of Virginia's High Court of Chancery. Wythe compiled a book of these cases, now known as Wythe's Reports.[3] Several decades after Wythe died, Benjamin Blake Minor edited a second edition of the Reports that added some more decisions Wythe intended to be published.[4]

The Reports contain cases that Wythe heard as Virginia's High Chancellor, the judge who sat on the commonwealth's High Court of Chancery, a court of equity. In the Anglo-American legal system, equity developed as an alternative set of remedies to the common law system; equity was supposed to provide a soultion when the common law outcome would not provide proper justice. In the early days of the United States, many states had separate courts to hear equity cases. Equity cases usually involved property, contract, and inheritance disputes, so those are the cases the reader will find in Wythe's Reports. Wythepedia has created pages for each of the decisions in the Reports summarizing the case and its background and explaining references to sources Wythe cited. We can think of Wythe's Reports as his version of a casebook, the textbooks that modern law students are familiar with. Wythe excerpts and summarizes the court's decisions, sometimes including subsequent appeals to other courts, then comments on them. Wythe hopes that by reading his commentaries on the courts' decisions, future lawyers and students of law will reach a better understanding of the law as it was in Virginia and how he thought it should be.

Wythe's Reports demands a lot from its readers. Wythe frequently cited or alluded to Ancient Greek and Latin works (often in their original language, with no English translation), as well as more recent classic authors such as Cervantes, Dante, and Shakespeare. He frequently used shorthand references and terms of art that lawyers of his era would understand, but which 21st-century readers may find baffling. Wythe frequently left out information such as how the case arrived before him or facts that Wythe found irrelevant to the point he was trying to make. Often, if a Wythe decision was appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, that higher court's opinion would be a better source for the facts of the case.

Properly understanding Wythe's decisions also means knowing their historical context. Many of the cases Wythe decided were influenced by events that were familiar to educated people in his day, but are esoteric history to modern Americans. Wythe also believed that Roman law principles were sometimes superior to English legal precedent, and cautioned against blindly following England's caselaw. Wythe believed, as did many of his contemporaries, that as a new country, the United States might wish to follow European-style civil law principles rather than Anglo common law.[5]

Another important piece of subtext lurking within Wythe's Reports is its author's long rivalry with Edmund Pendleton, President of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Wythe had arguably the most brilliant jurisprudential mind of his generation, and he was rarely defeated when he argued a case. The gregarious Pendleton, however, was a master litigator and one of the few people capable of defeating Wythe in court. As President of the Supreme Court, Pendleton reversed a substantial number of Wythe's decisions.

Wythepedia articles on the cases in Wythe's Reports summarize the case, and include notes and links to useful articles that can better explain the conflict and reasoning in the case. Wythepedia also includes articles that fill in the background behind a number of these decisions. Wythe's Reports can be a treatise on Virginia law and equity, a snapshot of life in Virginia during the late 18th century, and a profile of one of this nation's most underappreciated Founders. We hope you find our case summaries useful.

References

  1. ↑ Kirtland, 5-6.
  2. ↑ For more information on the fate of Wythe's personal papers, see the Wythepedia article Wythe's Lost Papers.
  3. ↑ George Wythe, Decisions of Cases in Virginia by the High Court of Chancery (Richmond: Printed by Thomas Nicolson, 1795).
  4. ↑ George Wythe, Decisions of Cases in Virginia by the High Court of Chancery with Remarks upon Decrees by the Court of Appeals, Reversing Some of Those Decisions|Decisions of Cases in Virginia by the High Court of Chancery, 2nd ed., ed. B.B. Minor (Richmond: J.W. Randolph, 1852).
  5. ↑ Timothy G. Kearley, "From Rome to the Restatement", Law Library Journal 108(1) (Winter 2016): 60.

References

Retrieved from "http://lawlibrary.wm.edu/wythepedia/index.php?title=User:Fwding/Sandbox&oldid=56462"