# American Legal Dopers: Question re Old US Legislation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2006, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-legal-dopers-question-re-old-us-legislation/377182 "2006-10-20T03:15:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-legal-dopers-question-re-old-us-legislation/377182/1 "2006-10-20T03:15:16Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-legal-dopers-question-re-old-us-legislation/377182/2 "2006-10-20T04:30:47Z")
Not a lawyer, but since you’re in a hurry, let me say, as a frequent reader of history books that discuss law, that I can’t remember seeing American laws cited from anything _other_ than the [Statutes at Large](http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsl.html). This [Citation Guide](http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwcite.html#sl) might help, and it contains links to other resources. The Northwest Ordinance is a little tricky, though, because it dates back to the pre-1789 Confederation Congress. I think that it would be in the Journals of the Confederation Congress, but I’m not sure. I can’t find anything handy that quotes from it. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-legal-dopers-question-re-old-us-legislation/377182/3 "2006-10-20T04:42:41Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons] 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. [/QUOTE] Depends on what stylesheet you are using for your paper. Many refer to the blue book for legal citations. The Bluebook doesn’t seem to have a rule that covers the Northwest Ordinance. The U.S. Supreme Court seems to circumlocute the problem by making mostly textual references, but uses The Northwest Ordinance, 1 Stat. 50 here: [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=472&invol=38](http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=472&invol=38) I found a federal case that uses Northwest Ordinance § x (1787) for a pinpoint cite, which is close to the Bluebook’s citation offered for the the Declaration of Independence, which was passed by the same body. The Bluebook gives: The Declaration of Independence para. x (U.S. 1787). The only significant difference is that you ad U.S. before the date. If it’s for a law review footnote, it goes in large and small caps. OTOH, the Declartion of Independence is different. I think the Supreme Court is closer, though: The Northwest Ordinance, 1 Stat. 50 (1787) The Missouri Compromise, 3 Stat. 548 (1820) The Kansas-Nebraska Act, 10 Stat. 277 (1854) All three are published in Statutes at Large: [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsl.html](http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsl.html) Authenticated images can be viewed online, here: [Milestone Documents | National Archives](http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=8) > **[Milestone Documents](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/list)** > > The primary source documents on this page highlight pivotal moments in the course of American history or government. They are some of the most-viewed and sought-out documents in the holdings of the National Archives. > **[Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/kansas-nebraska-act)** > > EnlargeDownload Link Citation: Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854; 1854; Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress, 1789 - 2011; General Records of the United States Government, Record Group 11; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. View All Pages in... ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-legal-dopers-question-re-old-us-legislation/377182/4 "2006-10-20T16:15:48Z")
Well done, **Gfactor** ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-legal-dopers-question-re-old-us-legislation/377182/5 "2006-10-20T21:32:22Z")
Well done indeed, **Gfactor**! First of all, many thanks for your help with the citations. With them, I was able to find these pieces of legislation today, in their proper place. Yes, the local law library had a full set of _Statutes at Large_. I’m unsure how old some of the volumes were, but let’s just say that I had to blow the dust off them, and the pages were somewhat brittle. Still, there was the legislation! And the library had a Bluebook too. But like you, I found nothing in that to help with the Northwest Ordinance. But the Bluebook was there. I’ll continue to study from my own copies of this legislation, since it is likely I’ll be marking them up with my own notes (obviously, I am not going to scribble in library books). But it is good to have found them, and thus, to have citations for them. Many thanks again for your help, **Gfactor**. If you ever make it up hereabouts, I’ll be happy to buy you a beer. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-legal-dopers-question-re-old-us-legislation/377182/6 "2006-10-24T02:16:22Z")
After you’ve done a bit of Bluebooking, you might find this entertaining: Mary I. Coombs, _Lowering One’s Cites: A (Sort of) Review of the University of Chicago Manual of Legal Citation_, 76 VA. L. REV. 1099 (1990): [http://faculty.law.miami.edu/mcoombs/documents/cites.pdf](http://faculty.law.miami.edu/mcoombs/documents/cites.pdf)