Sir William Blackstone - Two Foundations According to Blackstone

                         Blackstone Paper

                           Introduction

    Sir William Blackstone played a huge roll in the founding of the United States.  Blackstone’s great work Commentaries on the Laws of England had a great influence on the Founding Fathers who created our laws, laws which are still in effect today. Most people back then who were of legal profession and those who were common people knew who William Blackstone was. Blackstone was well known for developing the three types of law: the law of nature, law of revelation, and the law of nations. According to Rick Brainard author of William Blackstone and His Contributions to American Law. Blackstone’s main contribution to law,“was his theory of common law” (Brainard, 2016).

              Two foundations According to Blackstone

According to Blackstone there are two types of laws the law of nature, and law of revelation. Upon these two law the law of nature and the law of revelation, depend all human laws; that is to say, no human laws should be suffered to conduct these (Blackstone, 1776). According to  Kerry L. Morgan writer of The Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God: The True Foundation of American Law. In Psalm 19 Morgan state’s that “God gave his law so that people would seek after God and know what God requires of every person” (Morgan, 2014). In Romans 2:14-15 Gods states that “These rules also apply to all people and are written into each man, woman and child because God is the Creator of all people” (Morgan, 2014). Psalm 19 God refers to the law of nature, because God gave use his law so that we would try to seek him and his glory. Meaning it is “natural” as humans to seek God. According to Steven J. Cole in his writings Why God Gave the Law he explains why there is law. Cole states that,”God gave the Law to reveal His standard of absolute righteousness to convict us all of our true guilt before Him, so that we would see our need for the gospel” (Cole. 2013).  In Romans 2:14-15 God is describing the law of revelation. Think of this verse as God the Creator is up in heaven. He created each and every person in His divine way, but in each and every person there are rules our Creator has personally engraved into us. One such rule is the knowing difference from write and wrong.

    Blackstone’s meaning regarding the law of nature and law of            

                             Revelation

Blackstone identified the essential legal relationship that exists between God and his creation by observing, “Man, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator, for he is entirely a dependent being (Blackstone, 1776). Because man was created by God, he is subject to God’s will. The will of God is what Blackstone called “the laws of nature.” Man in sinful nature cannot depend on Gods will to fulfil God’s will. Blackstone stated “And if our reasons were always, as in our first ancestor before his transgression, clear and perfect, unruffled by passions, unclouded by prejudice, unimpaired by disease or intemperance the task would be pleasant and easy; we should need no other guide but this. But now every man finds… his reasons corrupt, and his understanding full of ignorance and error” (Blackstone, 1776). Blackstone goes on to state that “The doctrines thus delivered are called revealed law”. Revealed law can be found in the Bible.

 When Human Law Contradicts Natural Law

After defining natural law, Blackstone writes about human laws and their responsibility to natural law. He uses the example of murder to illustrate his point. Blackstone explains that human law does not create certain laws, but follows natural law. Blackstone say’s that murder “is expressly forbidden by the divine, and demonstrably by the natural law; and from these prohibitions arises the true unlawfulness of this crime. Those human laws that annex a punishment to it do not at all increase its moral guilt” (Blackstone, 1776). Murder is wrong because natural law is the law of God and God’s law is the main law we should rely on. Blackstone then states, “if any human law should allow or enjoin us to commit it, we are bound to transgress that human law, or else we must offend both the natural and the divine” (Blackstone, 1776). Blackstone encouraged man to not obey any laws that contradicted natural law.

    How did Blackstone influence America’s Founding Father

        Blackstone played an important role in influencing America’s founding fathers. Back in the early forming of America family’s had two types of books in their house one, the Bible and the second, Blackstone’s Commentaries. By 1771 Blackstone sold ”at least one thousand copies of the English edition in the United States, prompting printer Robert Bell of Philadelphia to propose a domestic edition. Fifteen hundred of these sets were ordered by lawyers, judges, public officers, and interested laymen throughout the Colonies” (Blackstone, 1776). This is how our founding fathers came about hearing Blackstone’s commentaries. When Thomas Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence he put a piece if Blackstone in it. Jefferson said, "law of nature and of nature's God" (Jefferson, 1776). 

                    What is this third kind of law

        Blackstone believed society needed a third kind of law and that law is law of nations. Blackstone believed that man was formed for society, therefore requiring the third law to be set in place to protect society. If man were able to live separate from society, there would be no need for any other laws but the laws of nature and of nature’s God. Blackstone being the wise man he was knew that man could not live peacefully among each other in society.  ”This general law is founded upon this principle that different nations ought in time of peace to do one another all the good they can; and, in time of war, as little harm as possible, without prejudice to their own real interests” (Morgan, 2014). Another name Blackstone gave for law of nations is civil law. Blackstone termed civil law as a “mutual compacts, treaties, leagues, and agreements between these several communities: in the construction also of which compacts we have no other rule to resort to, but the law of nature, which all the communities are equally subject” (Blackstone, 1776). In order to preserve peace among nations, Blackstone said that civil law is entirely dependent upon God ordained law the natural law. According to Blackstone natural law can never contradict civil law for if this happens society is corrupt.