The COMMON Law Begins. . .
with a realistic view of humanity. It takes man as he is — a being of reason, spirit, and sense. Its foundation is the “reasonable person”, who acts and judges according to reason. From this understanding follows a central truth: freedom is rooted in reason itself. Because every person is a rational being, every person is, by nature, free.
Over time, the Common Law built a social order grounded in the dignity of the individual and the moral and intellectual autonomy of each member of the community. To be free is to be responsible — to act with self-mastery, to answer for one’s conduct, to sustain one’s family, to manage one’s own affairs and property. In this conception, society is an association of free and lawful men and women, living together in the fellowship of a free community.
The Common Law does not begin with the idea that human nature is corrupt or depraved. Systems that assume the wickedness of man must rely on external coercion to enforce good behavior. The Common Law, by contrast, rests on confidence in human capacity — that people can govern themselves and act justly. Its principles and institutions thus point toward individual responsibility and constitutional freedom.
Across centuries, this faith in human dignity transformed the servant, laborer, and villein into the freeholder and the independent citizen — a remarkable testament to the vitality of its moral vision. The moral ideals of the Common Law were simple yet profound: honest work, a fair wage, a just price, a reasonable profit. To sell a poor product was wrong; to demand excessive payment was extortion. The right and wrong of daily transactions were understood by all.
Today, however, that older conception of the independent, self-reliant person is being replaced by a new one — the statutory man. Hemmed in by a maze of regulations, this new figure may seem safer, better protected from life’s misfortunes. Yet his energy, initiative, and sense of responsibility are weakened. He becomes, in some sense, incomplete — dependent on external authority for direction and judgment.
There is a struggle for the future and it may well be between these two conceptions of humanity: the statutory creature of regulation and the reasonable person of the Common Law — the free and lawful individual.