The Early History of the Law of Bills and Notes: A Study of the Origins of Anglo-American Commercial Law

297 Pages·1995·7.88 MB·English

by  James Steven Rogers

This study traces the history of the law of bills and notes in England
from medieval times to the period in the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries when bills played a central role in the domestic
and international financial system. It challenges the traditional
theory that English commercial law developed by incorporation of
the concept of negotiability and other rules from an ancient body of
customary law known as the law merchant. Professor Rogers shows
that the law of bills was developed within the common law system
itself, in response to changing economic and business practices.
This account draws on economic and business history to explain
how bills were actually used and to examine the relationship
between the law of bills and economic and social controversies,
including the medieval usury proscription, the disputes among
mercantilist economic writers on the impact of exchange trans-
actions on the balance of trade, and the early nineteenth-century
dispute over the 'real bills' theory of banking and monetary policy.

CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN ENGLISH
LEGAL HISTORY
THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE
LAW OF BILLS AND NOTES
CAMBRIDGE STUDIES
IN ENGLISH LEGAL HISTORY
Edited by
J. H. BAKER
Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge
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The early history of the law of bills and notes
A study of the origins of Anglo-American commercial law
JAMES STEVEN ROGERS
THE EARLY HISTORY
OF THE
LAW OF BILLS
AND NOTES
A STUDY OF THE ORIGINS
OF ANGLO-AMERICAN COMMERCIAL
LAW
JAMES STEVEN ROGERS
Boston College Law School
| CAMBRIDGE
UNIVERSITY PRESS
PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
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© Cambridge University Press 1995
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1995
Reprinted 1996
First paperback edition 2004
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Rogers, James Steven, 1951-
The early history of the law of bills and notes: a study of the
origins of Anglo-American commercial law / by James Steven Rogers.
p. cm. - (Cambridge studies in English legal history)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0 52144212 5 hardback
1. Negotiable instruments - Great Britain - History. 2. Bills of
exchange - Great Britain - History. I. Title. II. Series.
KD1695.R64 1995
346.4 r096-dc20
[344.10696] 94-15928 CIP
ISBN 0 52144212 5 hardback
ISBN 0 52152204 8 paperback
TO
DOROTHY AND EMMA

CONTENTS
Preface page xi
Table of cases and precedents xv
Note on citation xxv
Introduction 1
The central courts, commercial law, and the law
merchant 12
Commercial cases in the central courts 12
The law merchant and the mercantile courts 20
The law merchant in the central courts 27
Early exchange transactions: commercial practice 32
Exchange transactions as means of funds transfer 32
Exchange transactions as finance 36
The dual functions of exchange 41
Early exchange transactions: private law 44
Exchange contracts in the mercantile courts 44
Exchange contracts in the Admiralty Court 51
Exchange contracts in the common law courts 54
Early exchange transactions: public law and policy 69
The debate over usury in exchange 70
The exchange controversy in England 75
The significance of the public controversy over
exchange 88
From exchange transactions to bills of exchange:
the transformation of commercial practice 94
The era of exchange transactions and the era of bills of
exchange 94
The middleman economy and the development of
inland bills 100