William Blackstone and the Common Law

The eighteenth century British jurist William Blackstone set forth a common law model which heavily influenced the American founding fathers many years later . The model had two main categories - the law of nature and the law of revelation . Due to his definition of law in Commentaries on the Laws of England , Blackstone had a tremendous impact on the American founders : A rule of civil conduct prescribed by the Supreme power in a state , commanding what is right , and prohibiting what is wrong (Snyder , A . According to Blackstone , man has a duty to pursue

br his own true and substantial happiness . Thus , in the Declaration of Independence , being influenced by William Blackstone 's common law model the founding fathers referred to certain unalienable rights among which there were life , liberty , and the pursuit of happiness

William Blackstone explained that since man was created in the image of God , the law of nature establishes a rule of moral conduct based on God 's law . As a result , a rule of action presumes man 's duties to God self , and neighbor . He defines the law of nature as eternal , immutable laws of good and evil ' that set up an objective standard of morality as well as right and wrong actions as dictated by God

According to Blackstone , there are two standards by which actions of an individual should be gauged : malum in se and malum prohibitum . The first one malum in se , or bad in and of itself , is an act that violates the image of God in oneself or in other men . This standard presumes that a man has no subjective right to do something that has been established as objectively wrong . The second standard malum prohibitum , or bad because prohibited , is based on certain laws seen in the law of nature and nature 's God . Malum prohibitum states that the role of government is to command what is right and prohibit what is wrong . Mainly , the government should protect those rights already given to every individual by God

For William Blackstone , Parliament of the United Kingdom played a central role as the source of legislation where the House of Commons and the House of Lords balanced each other (Stacy , R . In order to present his perspective on law and the legal system in logic and clear way William Blackstone divided the law into four volumes and themes . These four books have the following titles : Rights of Persons , Rights of Things , Private Wrongs , and finally Public Wrongs . The first book is devoted to examination of British government , the royal family marriage , children , the clergy , organizations and corporations as well as the absolute rights of individuals . The second book tells about the right of property . The third book includes the information about torts while the fourth book discusses the crime and punishment including offenses against God and religion

James Wilson was one of the first five Justices on the U .S . Supreme Court . He accepted common law model of William Blackstone and looked to...