This charge, written in the Declaration of Independence, is to King George III of England, who ultimately prevented the peoples of the thirteen colonies to have access to a fair trial with the presence of an appointed jury. In all the British colonies they had a limited court system and some courts would represent more than one colony at a time. These court systems were called Vice-Admiralty courts and were put in place to solve the many disputes between the seamen that occupied the colonies in the early stages of colonization. These Vice-Admiralty courts did not use the jury system like the Common Law Courts in England did, they had an appointed Judge who would hear the testimonies and the evidence and would make a ruling based on their own judgment. Any of the criminals that were charged for a more serious offence would be sent back to England to be put on trial before a jury, but this was rather inconvenient. During the time of the Trade and Navigation Acts, the British Government extended the Judges, of the Vice-Admiralty courts, authority to that of customs and criminal charges. Those who were being tried for their charges felt that this judicial system was unjust, and that they were being denied their right to trial-by-jury, which technically because of their British status, they were entitled to. This injustice due to lack of trial-by-jury was because of the laws that were implemented by King George III, in an attempt to keep the colonies under British control, if the colonies were given too much leeway they might not continue to follow under British rule. Therefore when the American Revolution and finally American Independence came, it was one of the many issues that needed to be addressed, and changed to accommodate a new just system that would provide the people with a fair trial, judged by a jury. It became every persons constitutional right to be put on trial before a jury.
Krystle Sichky
-L. Kinvin Wroth, “The Massachusetts Vice Admiralty Court and the Federal Admiralty Jurisdiction”, The American Journal of Legal History, Vol 6, No.4. 347. -“The Vice-Admiralty Courts,” http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/vac.htm
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This charge, written in the Declaration of Independence, is to King George III of England, who ultimately prevented the peoples of the thirteen colonies to have access to a fair trial with the presence of an appointed jury.
In all the British colonies they had a limited court system and some courts would represent more than one colony at a time. These court systems were called Vice-Admiralty courts and were put in place to solve the many disputes between the seamen that occupied the colonies in the early stages of colonization. These Vice-Admiralty courts did not use the jury system like the Common Law Courts in England did, they had an appointed Judge who would hear the testimonies and the evidence and would make a ruling based on their own judgment. Any of the criminals that were charged for a more serious offence would be sent back to England to be put on trial before a jury, but this was rather inconvenient.
During the time of the Trade and Navigation Acts, the British Government extended the Judges, of the Vice-Admiralty courts, authority to that of customs and criminal charges. Those who were being tried for their charges felt that this judicial system was unjust, and that they were being denied their right to trial-by-jury, which technically because of their British status, they were entitled to. This injustice due to lack of trial-by-jury was because of the laws that were implemented by King George III, in an attempt to keep the colonies under British control, if the colonies were given too much leeway they might not continue to follow under British rule. Therefore when the American Revolution and finally American Independence came, it was one of the many issues that needed to be addressed, and changed to accommodate a new just system that would provide the people with a fair trial, judged by a jury. It became every persons constitutional right to be put on trial before a
jury.
Krystle Sichky
-L. Kinvin Wroth, “The Massachusetts Vice Admiralty Court and the Federal Admiralty Jurisdiction”, The American Journal of Legal History, Vol 6, No.4. 347.
-“The Vice-Admiralty Courts,” http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/vac.htm
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