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Commentaries on the Laws of England
Sir William Blackstone (1765)
The foundational treatise on English common law that profoundly influenced American legal thought and the development of U.S. law.
Significance
The most influential legal treatise in the English-speaking world. Cited by the U.S. Supreme Court more than any other secondary source in its early history.
Selected Excerpt
The law of nature, being coeval with mankind and dictated by God himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times; no human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this. This law of nature, being co-eval with mankind and dictated by God himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other. No human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this; and such of them as are valid derive all their force, and all their authority, mediately or immediately, from this original. The principal aim of society is to protect individuals in the enjoyment of those absolute rights, which were vested in them by the immutable laws of nature.
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This text is in the public domain. Original publication: 1765.