Historic Reference Works

Significant writings in the natural law tradition from Europe and America
(alphabetical by author)

Adams, John Quincy
The Jubilee of the Constitution: A Discourse (1839)


Aquinas, Thomas
Summa Theologica: Selected Questions on Law and Justice (~1274)


Bastiat, Frederic
The Law (1848)


Blackstone, William
Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-69)


Brutus, Stephen Junius
Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos [A Vindication Against Tyrants] (1579)


Burlamaqui, Jean-Jacques
The Principles of Natural Law and The Principles of Politic Law (1748)


Bynkershoek, Cornelius van
Questions of Public Law (1737)


Calvin, John
Of Civil Government (1536)


Fleming, Robert
Theokratia, or the Divine Government of Nations (1699)


Grotius, Hugo
The Law of War and Peace (1625)


Hamilton, Alexander
The Federalist Papers (1787-88)


Jay, John
The Federalist Papers (1787-88)


Jefferson, Thomas
Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom (1779)
Kentucky Resolutions of 1798
Danbury Baptist Correspondence (1801-02)


Kent, James
Commentaries On American Law (1826-1830)


Locke, John
A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)
Two Treatises of Government (1680-1690)


Madison, James
Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments (1785)
The Federalist Papers (1787-88)


Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat
The Spirit of Laws (1751)


Pierce, Franklin (1804-1869)
Veto Message, May 3, 1854


Pierce, Franklin (1853-19XX)
Federal Usurpation (1908)


Pufendorf, Samuel von
The Duty of Man and Citizen According to the Natural Law (1673)


Root, Jesse
Origin of the Government and Laws in Connecticut (1798)


Rutherford, Samuel
Lex Rex (1644)


St. Germain, Christopher
The Doctor and Student (1518)


Story, Joseph
Commentaries on the U.S. Constitution (1833)


Tucker, St. George
Blackstone’s Commentaries: with Notes of Reference (1803)


de Vattel, Emmerich
The Law of Nations or the Principles of Natural Law (1758)


Wayland, Francis
The Elements of Moral Science (1835)

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