The Modern Period

Emmerich de Vattel, The Law of Nations, or Principles of the Law of Nature (London, 1760).

Vattel (1714-1767), whose work on the laws of war and peace was the most influential in the 18th century, considered international law, like his intellectual forebearers, to be rooted in natural law. His views, however, were tempered by a strong defence of state sovereignty and the authority of treaties. With established tradition, Vattel held that surrendered forces could not be killed (Bk. 3, ch. 8), and agreed with writers like Gentili that those who grossly violated the laws of war could be severely punished. In keeping with many early treatises on war and peace, Vattel did not set out rules for establishing tribunals in the wake of conflict, and did not envisiom post-bellum reparations or justice beyond the text of a peace treaty (Bk. 4, ch. 2).

Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation (Philadelphia, 1795).

The Treaty of Paris (1783), among the United States, Britain and France, ended the American War of Independence. Favorable to the United States, it established a foundation for partnership with Britain and addressed past wrongs. In the treaty, lawfully contracted debts were to be paid to creditors on either side, restitution of confiscated rights and property of British loyalists in America was strongly “recommended” to the states, and the US promised to avoid any future confiscation or reprisal against British loyalists in the war. Jay’s Treaty, signed in 1794 and pictured here, attempted to address unresolved and disputed issues from the Treaty of Paris, with partial success.

Reports of Cases Ruled and Adjudged in the Courts of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1799). [3 Dallas 199, Ware v. Hylton].

Ware v. Hylton (1796) was a case that pitted state power against the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution. A British subject sued to recover an outstanding debt from before the War of Independence. The American defendant, a Virginian, cited a Virginia law of 1777 cancelling such debts. However, the Treaty of Paris ending the War had assured that creditors’ rights on both sides of the Atlantic would be upheld. The case went to the Supreme Court, which found that international treaties were binding on the states, making the Virginia state law invalid, and the debt recoverable.

Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction (Washington, 1866).

The aftermath of the Civil War brought considerable debate and a political struggle over the question of proper punishment and reparations. In Congressional testimony, opinions were solicited on the ability of the southern states to rejoin the Union as part of the federal plan for Reconstruction. General George H. Thomas, stationed in Tennessee, advised on the pages of the congressional report included here, that martial law should continue in the South, but that Congress should not remain closed to southern political participation, in part to rekindle its loyalty.

The Reconstruction of States: Letter of Major-General Banks to Senator Lane (New York, 1865).

Union General Nathaniel Banks’ letter thanked Senator James Lane of Kansas for supporting President Lincoln’s plan for the reconstruction of Louisiana after the Civil War. In the face of criticism from Radical Republicans, who felt the measures did not go far enough, Banks argued that laws cancelling liability for debts, among others, were sufficient. It was not practicable, he wrote, to exclude those who bore arms against the Union from voting.