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(More customer reviews)This is a book of serious legal historical scholarship. Ms. Bilder is a Law Professor at Boston College Law School, and holds a Ph.D. in American history from Harvard. As such, portions of it may be heavy-going for the general reader, but enough of the general analysis comes through to make this a valuable resource for anyone interested in the judicary and colonial legal history. At issue is how tiny Rhode Island managed to maintain a very substantial degree of legal autonomy within the British Empire. To answer this query, Bilder focuses upon the central principle of the Empire that while "a colony's laws could not be repugnant to the laws of England [they] could differ according to the people and place" (p. 1). This principle was implemented as to all the American colonies, and gave each colony much maneuvering room to maintain a healthy degree of local autonomy.
While we have an exceptional general overview of London v. colony in Joseph H. Smith's, "Appeals to the Privy Council from the American Plantations," he obviously cannot probe in great detail any individual colony's experience with this system. That Bilder does do in taking up such topics as "Women, Family, Property," "Personnel and Practices" (a very interesting chapter), "Religious Establishment and Orthodoxy," and other issues. Her discussion of the Privy Council and the development of the appeal is particularly effective. Basically, over time, the "repugnance" and "divergence" principle was ambiguous enough to fuel an effective sharing of responsibilities within the Empire (sort of a variant of "salutary neglect"), though over time with the tightening of control from London this flexibility was constricted, prompting the American Revolution.
Bilder's final chapter is probably the most valuable for the general reader and scholars alike. What effect did this experience with the "repugnancy principle" have on the development of judicial review within the new states, the institution of federal judicial review of state and Congressional legislation, and the evolution of federalism? In sum, a very fine contribution indeed by Bilder based upon impeccable research (the notes run over 80 pages) and an impressive command of the topic.
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