The unfolding of American labor law

"In this book I argue that, contrary to Orren's claim, there existed no "master-servant regime" rooted in "feudal institutions." Nor do 1 find appreciable support in the early republic for Tomlins's proposed judicial usurpation of the democratic process through the artful adoption of English common law precedents. In my view it is possible to see that judges and legal commentators were using the law to address a new set of conditions in early America. They had to deal with an increasingly mobile and restless white workforce, the rise of coercive labor unions, and the advent of new technologies and labor practices. In the process, they embraced voluntaristic principles of social organization (contractualism) and regulatory values (the interests of the community)". -- INTRODUCTION.