of Scottish case law. Societal input is not apparent. But Scots law on the subject was important, given the flight of English heiresses to Scotland for a marriage where the law was different. For local jurisdictional reasons, England had no system of conflict of laws. But because the House of Lords had jurisdiction and heard appeals from both Scotland and England, the issue of conflict of laws became important. Lord Mansfield was the main architect of the subject. Mansfield was a Scot. He made his reputation at the English bar with these Scottish appeal cases. Huber then became the authority on the subject in England. Again, there is no sign of any societal influence. From England Huber’s theories migrated to the U.S. Again, there is no sign of any input from the society. But authority was needed, and it was found in English law. InJoseph Story wrote a celebrated commentary on conflict of laws based, as he supposed, on the theory of Huber. Again, authority was found to be needed; again there is no evidence of an input from the conditions of society. But Story misstated Huber. The famous Dred Scott case was a consequence, and Dred Scott was declared a slave. On Huber’s theory, the case could never had arisen because Dred Scott would have been obviously free. The Dred Scott case played an important role in the election of Abraham Lincoln as U.S. President. Without Lincoln, the American civil war would have occurred at a different time and in different circumstances with possibly a different outcome.
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