Description
Book SynopsisIn the early history of Halifax (1749-1766), debt litigation was extremely common. People from all classes frequently used litigation and its use in private matters was higher than almost all places in the British Empire in the 18th century.
In Law, Debt, and Merchant Power, James Muir offers an extensive analysis of the civil cases of the time as well as the reasons behind their frequency. Muir’s lively and detailed account of the individuals involved in litigation reveals a paradoxical society where debtors were also debt-collectors. Law, Debt, and Merchant Power demonstrates how important the law was for people in their business affairs and how they shaped it for their own ends.
Trade Review‘At the higher methodological level, the work both fascinates and provokes… Muir’s book is an interesting, original, and important work, part of the new wave of regional scholarship that integrates greater Nova Scotia into the history of the eighteenth-century British Atlantic.’ -- Barry Cahill * Acadiensis February 2017 *
‘James Muir presents an articulate, nuanced approach to the development of civil procedure in Canada… He has collected an impressive amount of historical data in order to reconstruct patterns of litigation in eighteenth-century Halifax.’ -- Ashton Butler * Saskatchewan Law Review vol 80:2017 *
"This is the 103rd book published by the Osgoode Society for Legal History since 1981, part of a sustained effort to understand the law, the courts, and practitioners over the whole of Canadian history from many perspectives." -- Douglas McCalla, University of Guelph * Canadian Business History Association Newlsetter, July 2018 *
Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Halifax, a community of litigants Chapter 3: Initiating Actions Chapter 4: Avoiding Trial Chapter 5: Going to Trial Chapter 6: Ending the Action Chapter 7: Appeals and Other Courts Chapter 8: Conclusion Appendix 1: Sources and Methods Appendix 2: Interpreting Occupational and Status Data Bibliography
