BOOK REVIEW: Olivier MORÉTEAU on The Genesis of Nineteenth-Century Civil Codes in the United States by Julie Rocheton (Comparative Legal History, 2025-1, June, pp. 153–164)

(Image source: Taylor&Francis)

A book on civil codes in the US discussing codes other than those of Louisiana and Puerto Rico cannot but catch the reader's attention, as no comprehensive story encompassing civil codes in civil and common law states had ever been attempted. This book is an event in comparative legal history. It covers the United States of America in the nineteenth century and focuses on the genesis of the civil codes more than on their content. The author of the book and the editors of the Legal History Library must be commended for this publication. [...]

To read the full review, please click here.

For further information about the volume on our blog, please visit here.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/2049677X.2025.2500211

BOOK: Lindsay M. CHERVINSKY, The Cabinet. George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution (Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard UP, 2020), 432 p. ISBN 9780674986480, € 27

 

(image source: Harvard UP)

Abstract:

The U.S. Constitution never established a presidential cabinet—the delegates to the Constitutional Convention explicitly rejected the idea. So how did George Washington create one of the most powerful bodies in the federal government? On November 26, 1791, George Washington convened his department secretaries—Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Henry Knox, and Edmund Randolph—for the first cabinet meeting. Why did he wait two and a half years into his presidency to call his cabinet? Because the U.S. Constitution did not create or provide for such a body. Washington was on his own. Faced with diplomatic crises, domestic insurrections, and constitutional challenges—and finding congressional help lacking—Washington decided he needed a group of advisors he could turn to. He modeled his new cabinet on the councils of war he had led as commander of the Continental Army. In the early days, the cabinet served at the president’s pleasure. Washington tinkered with its structure throughout his administration, at times calling regular meetings, at other times preferring written advice and individual discussions.

Youtube video:

 

On the author:

Lindsay M. Chervinsky is Scholar in Residence at the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies at Iona College, Senior Fellow at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, and Professorial Lecturer at the School of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University.

(source: Harvard UP) 

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Post-doctoral Fellowship, Northwestern Center For Legal Studies and Jack Miller Center for Teaching America's Founding Principles and History (DEADLINE: 15 February 2019)

(Source: Northwestern University)

Via Law & Humanities Blog, we learned of a call for applications for a post-doctoral fellowship at Northwestern University.

Northwestern’s Center for Legal Studies is pleased to continue a collaborative partnership with the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History. We seek applications for the centerpiece of the partnership: a two-year post-doctoral fellowship held in residence at Northwestern University’s Center for Legal Studies beginning September 1, 2019.

A strong preference will be given to candidates working at the intersections of constitutional innovation, politics, and law in the context of the rise of eighteenth century invention, new understandings of property, the Enlightenment, and the creation of the United States. Particularly encouraged to apply are candidates in legal history, the history of political and economic thought, and/or political theory whose work is empirically grounded in the eighteenth century but has significant contemporary implications for questions of constitutionalism, liberty, equality, and democracy.

The post-doctoral fellow will offer three courses per year on topics pertaining to early American and Atlantic Enlightenment history, political and economic thought, and/or social science. In addition to engaging in an active research and publishing agenda, the candidate is expected to provide a reasonable amount of assistance with organizing other activities associated with the Fellowship and the Legal Studies Program. The annual salary for the fellow is $50,000, plus fringe benefits and a $1,500 renewable annual research budget. The fellow is required to organize and participate in several activities associated with Jack Miller Center events at Northwestern. These activities include producing an essay on the fellow’s work; participating in the Annual Jack Miller Faculty Development Summer Institute for professors; working with Legal Studies faculty hosting a website that features the fellow’s work and other activities related to the Jack Miller Center; and planning, attending, and participating in the Law in Motion Lecture series. Generous funds are available to bring in scholars central to the fellow’s own scholarship for such events. This is a nine-month faculty appointment, and applicant must have a Ph.D. in hand by September 1, 2019.

Applicants should submit a cover letter stating qualifications and field of interest, a CV, a writing sample, a sample syllabus of a proposed course, and two letters of recommendation. Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer of all protected classes, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply. Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the United States. Applications should be submitted no later than February 15, 2019.

Please contact Ann Kelchner a-kelchner@northwestern.edu with questions.