Volume 2 of The Cambridge History of Law in America focuses on the long nineteenth century (1789–1920). It deals with the formation and development of the American state system, the establishment and growth of systematic legal education, the spread of the legal profession, the growing density of legal institutions and their interaction with political and social action and the development of the modern criminal justice system. We also see how law intertwines with religion, how it becomes ingrained in popular culture and how it intersects with the worlds of the American military and of international relations. The Cambridge History of Law in America has been made possible by the generous support of the American Bar Foundation.