David Ress Bücher

The book offers a comprehensive analysis of the Kansas Blue Sky Act of 1911, the first regulation of securities sales in the U.S. It balances critiques regarding its impact on individual liberty and economic growth while challenging the notion of the act as an anomaly. Instead, it delves into the significance of "blue sky laws" in reflecting the market values of small towns in the nineteenth century, providing a nuanced understanding of their historical context and implications for financial regulation.

The book explores the complex history of the Half Breed Tracts established in the 1820s for the descendants of Native American women and white traders. It delves into the ambiguous claims to the land, which led to a protracted struggle against settlers and speculators who ultimately seized it by the 1850s. David Ress examines the intricate debates and legal battles that marked this period of westward expansion, challenging conventional notions of land ownership and community in early America.

The book delves into the evolution of public land tenure records, tracing their origins from colonial Massachusetts, where settlers and Native Americans negotiated land rights, to the development of the Torrens system in South Australia in the nineteenth century. It examines how both systems emerged from comparable settlement patterns and religious influences, emphasizing their role in shaping concepts of land ownership and rights. The analysis highlights the implications of these record systems in facilitating absolute ownership over indigenous lands.

At the foundations of our modern conception of open government are a handful of disgruntled citizens in the Progressive Era who demanded accountability from their local officials, were rebuffed, and then brought their cases to court. Drawing on newspaper accounts, angry letters to editors, local histories, and court records, David Ress uncovers a number of miniature yet critical moments in the history of government accountability, tracing its decline as the gap between citizens and officials widened with the idea of the community as corporation and citizens as consumers. Together, these moments tell the story of how a nation thought about democracy and the place of the individual in an increasingly complex society, with important lessons for policy makers, journalists, and activists today.