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How did common law influence the United States Constitution and the American Revolution?

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King Henry II and St. Thomas Becket — Common law Henry II (left) disputing with Thomas Becket (center), miniature from a 14th-century manuscript; in the British Library (Cotton MS. Claudius D.ii).

The English common law tradition served as the foundational framework for both the American Revolution and the United States Constitution.

Influence on the American Revolution

In the period leading up to the American Revolution, colonial legal battles were frequently fought using common-law principles. Many of the era's leaders, including half of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence, were lawyers who relied on these traditions to challenge British authority. Furthermore, the Magna Carta—a symbol of the struggle against oppression—provided a conceptual defense of liberty that colonists invoked to protect their rights against perceived tyranny.12

Influence on the U.S. Constitution

The U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights are deeply rooted in common-law concepts, such as due process, habeas corpus, and the right to a jury trial. The Constitution utilizes traditional English legal terminology, and its guarantees of individual rights echo the protections found in the Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights. Following independence, Sir William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England became the primary source for understanding these legal traditions in the new nation.1234