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Full-Text Articles in Political History

Surveying Seattle Legal History: An Examination Of Judge Thomas Burke, Ashley Morrison Apr 2020

Surveying Seattle Legal History: An Examination Of Judge Thomas Burke, Ashley Morrison

UCARE Research Products

In the United States judiciary system, judges are assumed to be unbiased in their legal decisions on cases. In many cases, unfortunately, this is rarely the reality. By examining Judge Thomas Burke specifically, a survey of Seattle's legal environment can be revealed. From Judge Burke's connections with the railroad industry and protection of Chinese laborers during anti-Chinese riots reveals his desire for economic gain. With Judge Burke only presiding over two habeas corpus cases, neither dealing with anti-Chinese riots or the legality of Chinese laborers, no concrete conclusion can be drawn in that regard. Even still, Judge Burke's continued support …


The Railroads Must Have Ties: A Legal History Of Forest Conservation And The Oregon & California Railroad Land Grant, 1887-1916, Sean M. Kammer Jan 2010

The Railroads Must Have Ties: A Legal History Of Forest Conservation And The Oregon & California Railroad Land Grant, 1887-1916, Sean M. Kammer

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Historians have! for the most part! left unchallenged a similar negative view of Edward H. Harriman, who headed both the Union Pacific and the Southern Pacific and was perhaps the most powerful of the railroad tycoons during the first decade of the twentieth century.4 Prior to Harriman's takeover of the Southern Pacific in 1901, that railroad's long-standing policy had been to subdivide and sell lands to farmers, miners, and loggers, the purpose being lito encourage long-term settlement, economic growth, and rail traffic," but Harriman questioned and ultimately rejected this policy.s In January 1903, he ordered the termination of sales of …