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June 30

US Legal System

The DYK article today about the first murder trial in Iowa has got me thinking. The trial scene in the book The Sot-Weed Factor by John Barth; is this an accurate representation of the legal system in the US at the time. The late 19th century. Thanks

Courtesy link: Hanging of Patrick O'Connor. Since the Territory of Iowa was only established in 1838 and the trial took place in 1834 in what was at the time the Territory of Michigan, the meaning of "the first murder trial in Iowa" is not entirely clear. The court session in The Sot-Weed Factor is set in the 17th-century Province of Maryland, a British colony, before the US was established, so at the time there was no such thing as "the legal system in the US". The legal system in force, if any, would have been based on the British system. But, as the book is characterized as a "satirical epic", it is a reasonable assumption that its author felt free to stray from strict historical accuracy whenever expedient for a literary aim. --Lambiam 12:23, 30 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

"Although historians have agreed that the main goal of those creating a legal system [in Maryland] was to mirror England, one historical debate that has galvanized legal historians is whether the colonists imposed English law wholesale on the colony, or whether the founders created a new legal system. In general, scholars have concluded that Maryland law was similar to English law, but with characteristics unique to a frontier society". From: "Justice Without Partiality": Women and the Law in Colonial Maryland, 1648-1715 (pp. 7-8). Alansplodge (talk) 14:26, 30 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the useful answers above, but the premise of my question is to know if the depiction in the novel is accurate for legal trials at the time in that location. Please and thank you.

@Lambiam: I just noticed this. The book I used referred to the area as Iowa, but a better use for the hook would have been "the land that is now Iowa". The hook has been off the main page and I wish I could change it, but it's too late. I'm hoping that most readers will understand that, but I can clarify it in the article for those who don't. Not now though because I'm tired and I don't want to ruin anything. SL93 (talk) 05:06, 1 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

¶ Michigan as a state has never executed anyone, as she was the first state, in 1846, to abolish the death penalty (even before Rhode Island did so, with a very narrow exception for killers already serving life sentences, in 1851). According to Capital punishment in Michigan,

With one exception, all executions in areas which are now part of the State of Michigan were performed before the state was admitted to the Union, when Michigan became the 26th State on January 26, 1837.