Early on, American courts, even after the Revolution, often did cite contemporary English cases. This was because appellate decisions from many American courts were not regularly reported until the mid-19th century; lawyers and judges, as creatures of habit, used English legal materials to fill the gap. But citations to English decisions gradually disappeared during the 19th century as American courts developed their own principles to resolve the legal problems of the American people. The number of published volumes of American reports soared from eighteen in 1810 to over 8,000 by 1910. By 1879 one of the delegates to the California constitutional convention was already complaining: "Now, when we require them to state the reasons for a decision, we do not mean they shall write a hundred pages of detail. We [do] not mean that they shall include the small cases, and impose on the country all this fine judicial literature, for the Lord knows we have got enough of that already." COUNT 10
QSN1 early on American courts cited what cases? ANS1 contemporary English QSN2 What century were apellate decisions regularly reported? ANS2 19th century QSN3 When did cotations to English decisions gradually disappear? ANS3 19th century QSN4 How many published reports of American volumes existed in 1810? ANS4 eighteen QSN5 How many published reports of American volumes existed in 1910? ANS5 over 8,000 QSN6 When did Americans really begin to establish their own laws independent of the English? ANS6 mid-19th century QSN7 How many published volumes of American reports were released in 1810? ANS7 eighteen QSN8 By 1910, how many volumes of American reports were there? ANS8 8,000 QSN9 What did the lawmakers think of the increase in reports? ANS9 By 1879 one of the delegates to the California constitutional convention was already complaining QSN10 What were the lawmakers beginning to drown in? ANS10 judicial literature