To understand the history and evolution of the American legal system, one must first understand the legal climate of the world before the creation of the United Sates both prior and, during the colonial period. Understanding English law helps to bring both to fruition. English Law is both a literal institution of justice and a blanketed term used to describe, what we find today to be, a common idea of legal practices. The English Law as a noun is the common-law legal institution that governs criminal and civil law in England and Wales. This institution holds judges to the highest respect, giving them the power to create law by applying statutes and precedence to cases. These “laws”, more commonly called rulings, create precedence which is