Reception of the Common Law of England in Texas and the Judicial Attitude toward That Reception, 1840-1859 29 Texas Law Review 1950-1951

29 Tex. L. Rev. 904 (1950-1951)
Reception of the Common Law of England in Texas and the Judicial Attitude toward That Reception, 1840-1859

handle is hein.journals/tlr29 and id is 928 raw text is: THE RECEPTION OF THE COMMON LAW OF ENGLAND
IN TEXAS AND THE JUDICIAL ATTITUDE TOWARD
THAT RECEPTION, 1840-1859*
EDwARD LEE AlHmAm JR.+
THE GENERAL LE-GAL HISTORY op TEXAS
The jurisprudential history of Texas as a republic and as one of the
United States of America is different from that of the majority of the
states in this Union for reasons that will soon be set forth, and the
study of it, therefore, presents problems and sidelights not to be found
in any of the other states. The word any is used in the last part
of the sentence because, although the general development of the system
of jurisprudence in Texas is historically similar to that of California,
the specific problems growing out of the status of Texas, first as a part
of a Spanish possession, then as one of the United States of Mexico,
then as a republic, and finally as one of the United States of America,
are unique because of the very presence of those different legal posi-
tions. The difference between legal history in Texas and in those states
commonly thought of as the common-law states is apparent, and is
found to be more striking when one studies the law, especially the
adjective law, of the two types of state.
The purpose of this paper is to give a brief history of the kinds of
law, that is, the diverse systems of law, to be found in the State of
Texas before and during the first few years of its membership in the
Union; the statutory provisions used to bring about that mixture; and
the attitude of the courts of Texas toward the mingling of those systems.
It is not the intent of the writer or the scope of this paper to set forth
anything substantive, for the research herefor has not gone beyond
1859, and anything substantive found herein is purely incidental to the
real problem involved.
While Texas was one of the provinces of Mexico and a Spanish
possession, the law that governed was, of course, the civil law of Spain,
plus the decrees and orders of the royal government of Spain and
the ordinances and decrees promulgated by the viceroy in Mexico
City. There is no need to consider that phase of Texas history, for
it involves none of the problems here contemplated.
In 1821 the Viceroyalty of Mexico was successful in breaking away
from the sovereignty of Spain. A government was set up modeled to
*Tis article was prepared at the Law School of Harvard University in connec-
tion with the Seminar in American Legal History, April, 1940.
fMember of the Dallas Bar.

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