John Henry Wigmore and the Rules Of Evidence

At the dawn of the twentieth century, the United States was reeling from the effects of rapid urbanization and industrialization. Time-honored verities proved obsolete, and intellectuals in all fields sought ways to make sense of an increasingly unfamiliar reality. The legal system began to buckle under the weight of its anachronism. In the midst of this crisis, John Henry Wigmore, dean of the Northwestern University School of Law, single-handedly modernized the jury trial with his 19045 Treatise on the Anglo-American System of Evidence in Trials at Common Law. He inspired generations of progressive juristsamong them Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Benjamin Cardozo, and Felix Frankfurterto reshape American law to meet the demands of a new era. Yet Wigmores role as a prophet of modernity has slipped into obscurity. This book provides a radical reappraisal of his place in the birth of modern legal thought.