"George Wythe, America's First Law Professor and the Teacher of Jefferson, Marshall, and Clay"

Cover page

GEORGE WYTHE,

AMERICA'S FIRST LAW PROFESSOR AND THE

TEACHER OF JEFFERSON, MARSHALL, AND CLAY

Title page

GEORGE WYTHE,

AMERICA'S FIRST LAW PROFESSOR AND THE

TEACHER OF JEFFERSON, MARSHALL, AND CLAY

A Thesis

Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate

School of Emory University

by

W. Edwin Hemphill

A.B., Hampton-Sydney College, 1932

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts

Emory University, Georgia

May, 1933

Preface

PREFACE

It is a surprising circumstance that no biography of George Wythe — not even a small "Life" — has ever been published. Such a treatise would be worthwhile and valuable (to mention only one reason) for the light which it would throw on the history of American education in the latter half of the eighteenth century.

The study is a preliminary step, perhaps, in that direction. Its aim is to prevent a factual and interpretative account of George Wythe's legal professsorship and of his relationships with his three greatest pupils. An adequate consideration of the influence upon American history which he exerted directly through them could not be confirmed within the present scope, but in the three chapters devoted to them we have suggested at least the main trends which future thought on the subject will follow.

The most complete edition of the writings of Jefferson, that published by the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, has been used throughout whenever possible; its lacunae must be filled from a number of sources.