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American Legal System History

Brief slide show detailing the history of the American legal system.

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American Legal System History

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  1. The American Legal System  Its History and Origin

  2. What is law? Definition: Law is the rules by which civilization is ordered. The American legal system is a complex structure of checks and balances designed to protect its citizens against an abuse of governmental power. American law gets its foundation from English common law. English common law is structured after ancient Roman law and dates back centuries.

  3. A fundamental aspect of American law is separation of powers. Separation of powers originated in Rome and distributed powers to three branches of government. These branches were the same as American branches today. Executive, Judicial, and Legislative. Another source of American Law is English Common Law. What is Common Law? Common law is a body of unwritten laws based on legal precedents established by the courts. American law often utilizes the concept of precedents set previously.

  4. What is the United States? The US is a Constitutional Federal Republic in which the sovereignty is given to the people. What does this mean? This means that the people have the ability to elect representatives to exercise political power for them. The governing law by which these representatives should abide is the United States Constitution.

  5. What is the United States Constitution? The Constitution is the supreme law of the US, consisting of a Preamble and seven original articles. It describes the way the government is structured and how it should operate. It creates a system of checks and balances, which we call separation of powers, to keep any one branch of government from abusing its power or gaining too much. The branches of government it establishes are; Legislative (Congress), Executive (office of the President,) and Judicial (Federal court system). Articles four through seven highlight the relationship of the states to the federal government, establishing the constitution as the supreme law of the land. This means that the Constitution supersedes any contrasting state laws.

  6. In Conclusion: The American legal system was founded on English Common Law and separation of powers which originated in ancient Rome. The United States is a Constitutional Federal Republic. The Constitution is the backbone of the American legal system and supersedes all state laws.

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