Law and the Great Plains: Essays on the Legal History of the Heartland - Hardcover

by J. R. Wunder (Author), John R. Wunder (Editor)

This collection of essays by some of the most respected American legal scholars represents the first investigation of the legal history of the Great Plains. It challenges existing theories about the legal culture of the region by showing the area's distinctiveness. The four-part study offers overviews of law and the region, analyzes landmark cases, discusses the impact of important legal thinkers, and provides a short history and case studies of the work of leading jurists. Designed to whet the appetite of legal scholars and historians who want to consider new ideas and study a little-known field.

This provocative work developed from the first conference ever held on law and the Great Plains. The contributors and the participants addressed fundamental questions about race, ethnicity, and civil rights and the legal culture of the region. This study is designed to whet the appetite of legal scholars and historians who want to consider new ideas and study a little-known field.

Author Biography

JOHN R. WUNDER is Professor of History and Director of the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is the author of Retained by The People: A History of American Indians and the Bill of Rights (1994), Inferior Courts, Superior Justice: Justices of the Peace on the Northwest Frontier, 1853-1889 (Greenwood, 1979), and other books and articles.