History and Jurisprudence students at UB may be interested to know that Professor Sawyer published a series of articles last year on the history of English law in early Maryland. The articles address several questions, but the main question is whether early American law was essentially an imitation of England’s or whether it reflected meaningful innovations. Sawyer found that the earliest Maryland laws were very innovative, especially with respect to simplifying rules of procedure.

Ordinary Marylanders were quite active in shaping the law to local circumstances through frequent legislation. Somewhat paradoxically, pressure to make the law more English and more uniform throughout the colonies increased during the reign of William and Mary. This project was aided by increasing levels of education, often including study in London, among American lawyers. As will be explained in a follow-up posting, the American Revolution, surprisingly enough, left much English law intact, especially in the mid-Atlantic–Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia.

The articles can be found in the issues of the Maryland Historical Magazine, beginning with the Fall 2013 issue.