Sir William Blackstone

BLACKSTONE, SIR WILLIAM

The groundwork for U.S. JURISPRUDENCE lies in a four-volume eighteenth-century publication by British legal commentator Sir William Blackstone. Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England provided a systematic analysis of English COMMON LAW. Published between 1765 and 1769, the treatise was an exhaustive compilation of Blackstone’s Oxford University lectures on law. Commentaries was unprecedented in scope and purpose, and profoundly influenced the development of common law and LEGAL EDUCATION in England and the United States.

Born July 10, 1723, Blackstone was the son of Mary Blackstone and Charles Blackstone, of London. Blackstone’s father, a silk merchant, died before Blackstone was born; his mother died while he was a young boy. Raised by an older brother and tutored by an uncle, Blackstone attended Charterhouse and Pembroke College, at Oxford University, where his education included a thorough exposure to mathematics and logic. Blackstone entered All Souls College, Oxford, in 1743, and became a fellow in 1744.

In preparation for a law practice, Blackstone
received a CIVIL LAW degree in 1745, and
became a barrister in 1746. In 1750, he became a
doctor of civil law. One year later, he was
selected as an assessor (judge) of Chancellor’s
Court.

In 1755, after three years of a lusterless law
practice, Blackstone decided to devote all of his
time to teaching law at Oxford. His first book,
published in 1757, was titled An Analysis of the
Laws of England. In 1758, Blackstone was named
Oxford’s Vinerian Professor of ENGLISH LAW,
receiving the first chair of common law ever
established at the university. Blackstone’s lectures
were well received, providing students with
a comprehensive introduction to the laws of
England.
The success of his lectures enhanced Blackstone’s
career. In 1761 he became a bencher
(supervisor and lecturer) at Oxford’s Middle
Temple. The same year, he was elected to Parliament,
where he served for seven years—
although, according to most historians, he was
not an especially ambitious or effective politician.
Also in 1761, Blackstone married Sarah
Clitherow, with whom he had nine children.
In 1765, Blackstone published the first of his
four volumes of Commentaries. The treatise discussed
the cases, rules, and legal principles outlined
in his popular Oxford lectures. Each
volume concentrated on a particular area of
law—personal rights, property rights, TORTS, or
CRIMINAL LAW. As Blackstone analyzed the laws, he also revealed their relationship to a higher
power. Throughout his Commentaries, Blackstone
wove the concept of “natural law,” or God’s
laws imposed on humankind.
Some critics maintain that Blackstone’s view
of British law was misleading because a logical,
cohesive legal system simply did not exist at the
time he was writing. Also, they argue that
although Blackstone’s writing style was graceful,
he sometimes treated legal terms loosely. Yet
even his harshest critics concede that Blackstone’s
effort to synthesize English law was
indeed impressive, as was the effect of his treatise
in his country and beyond.
Blackstone’s Commentaries was particularly
influential in the United States as the new nation
sought to establish its own laws and legal system.
Although Blackstone is no longer cited by practicing
attorneys—his importance in the United
States decreased dramatically during the twentieth
century—he remains a revered figure in U.S.
law. Over thirty editions of Commentaries have
been printed in the United States and England.
In 1770, Blackstone became judge of the
Court of COMMON PLEAS and was knighted. He
died on February 14, 1780, at age fifty-seven.

FURTHER READINGS
Carrese, Paul O. 2003. The Cloaking of Power: Montesquieu,
Blackstone, and the Rise of Judicial Activism. Chicago:
Univ. of Chicago Press.

CROSS-REFERENCES
Blackstone’s Commentaries.