American Tradition of International Law: Great Expectations 1789-1914

How do we account for the rise of international law in the United States? The answer cannot be simple, and it may never be complete. Yet, approaching this question may enable us to better account for the state of American international law today and to help to predict its future.

This volume, the first of two, charts the history and emergence of international law in the American common law tradition, from its English roots in the late 18th century to the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The author addresses this complex issue by linking those who played a part in the intellectual development of international law through their roles as jurists, lawyers, judges, utopians, scientists, dreamers, and diplomats. He considers the history and development of the discipline from the very creation of the term international law, to its rise to prominence, and to the vast expectations for the discipline at the turn of the 19th century. The book explains how America has arrived at its present approach to international law and thus illuminates its distinctive foreign policy.