In the late 18th century, the English jurist William Blackstone famously described property as "that sole and despotic dominion." What Blackstone meant was that property was an "absolute right, inherent in every Englishman . . . which consists in the free use, enjoyment, and disposal of all acquisitions without any control or diminution, save only by the laws of the land." In light of the intervening 250 years of colonization, Blackstone's "despotic dominion" has assumed new and more ambiguous meanings. It is the ambiguity of the meanings of property and the tensions that were and still...
In the late 18th century, the English jurist William Blackstone famously described property as "that sole and despotic dominion." What Blackstone m...
Features essays that reflect the different directions in which legal history in the settler colonies of the British Empire has developed. This title shows how local life and culture in selected settlements influenced, and was influenced by, the ideology of the rule of law that accompanied the British colonial project.
Features essays that reflect the different directions in which legal history in the settler colonies of the British Empire has developed. This title s...
