The Golden Age: The John Webster Trial

It can be argued that the time between 1787 and 1861 was the “golden age” of law because it the set the precedent and truly allowed the judicial branch to shape their power. The “golden age” as the American Legal History stated was an era of transformation that gave structure to an industrial America. While there were many flaws in the decisions made by the court, many of the cases during this time gave future generations legal history in how to deal with murder. Cases such as the Dr. John Webster Trial and the Knapp Trial crated verdicts that still hold true today.

Dr. John Webster Trial
While American Legal History said that the “golden age” was tied directly to the economic development, I argue that the John Webster Trial was a pivotal case …show more content…
The Knapp brothers hired an assassin to have their wealthy uncle murdered so they could collect their inheritance. In a round about way, they were eventually discovered and confessed to their crimes; however, the hired assassin committed suicide before he could be tried. This caused a dilemma for the prosecution. Without, Crowninshield, the assassin, the prosecution could not get a guilty verdict on the Knapp brothers until “the actual murder had been convicted or the accessories had been present at the time of the murder.” The Knapp brothers stayed a safe 300 feet away from the scene of the crime. Up to this moment, America based most of its law on English common law. By appealing to the jury’s emotion and giving well-spoken arguments, Webster, the prosecution, was able to convince both judge and jury to allow a looser definition of accessory to murder. The guilty ruling in the Knapp Trial re-molded the law into something that Americans could lay claim on, this making it a “golden era”