Spoons
10-19-2006, 10:15 PM
I'm writing a legal history paper, and I'll be using some old American legislation as a source. Specifically, I'll be using:
-- Northwest Ordinance, 1787
-- Missouri Compromise, 1820
-- Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854
I have found information on how to cite current and recent US legislation, but unless these items appear in the current United States Code or another source that would likely be available at the local university's law library (I'm even unsure if Statutes at Large is available at the University of Alberta), I'm going to be stuck. So, my question is really twofold:
1. I want to cite these pieces of legislation back to their source, using a proper legal citation. How would I do so? Even if you do not know, could you recommend a source that might answer my question? In my Internet searches, I've found many references to the "Bluebook" as a style guide. Would this book help, especially with such old legislation?
2. Where (that is, in which document) would I find these pieces of legislation? Yes, I can find their text on the Internet, which is useful for study. But the Internet sources I've examined have no attribution to the original source. So while the online text is useful, the citation question still holds. Anyway, if I can find them in an official document, I may have some grip on Question 1, but I have no idea where to begin looking for these statutes. Where would I be likely to find them in an official document that American lawyers could cite for a court?
Note that my secondary sources, while referring to the above pieces of legislation, do not give them their proper legal citation either.
I'll be heading off to the University of Alberta's law library tomorrow, or on the weekend. I'll do my best to find my answers myself. But if anybody can help with the above two questions, it would be much appreciated.
-- Northwest Ordinance, 1787
-- Missouri Compromise, 1820
-- Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854
I have found information on how to cite current and recent US legislation, but unless these items appear in the current United States Code or another source that would likely be available at the local university's law library (I'm even unsure if Statutes at Large is available at the University of Alberta), I'm going to be stuck. So, my question is really twofold:
1. I want to cite these pieces of legislation back to their source, using a proper legal citation. How would I do so? Even if you do not know, could you recommend a source that might answer my question? In my Internet searches, I've found many references to the "Bluebook" as a style guide. Would this book help, especially with such old legislation?
2. Where (that is, in which document) would I find these pieces of legislation? Yes, I can find their text on the Internet, which is useful for study. But the Internet sources I've examined have no attribution to the original source. So while the online text is useful, the citation question still holds. Anyway, if I can find them in an official document, I may have some grip on Question 1, but I have no idea where to begin looking for these statutes. Where would I be likely to find them in an official document that American lawyers could cite for a court?
Note that my secondary sources, while referring to the above pieces of legislation, do not give them their proper legal citation either.
I'll be heading off to the University of Alberta's law library tomorrow, or on the weekend. I'll do my best to find my answers myself. But if anybody can help with the above two questions, it would be much appreciated.