“And once again, Swift was neither a Constitutional convention delegate, or a member of a ratifying legislature. His opinion is hearsay.”
Like Hillhouse and Ellsworth, he was a Connecticut lawyer and his book is on the laws of Connecticut.
Ellsworth - “The common law of this country remains the same as it was before the revolution.”
Ellsworth was a Framer and a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
and of course Madison waxes eloquently on the topic.
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a3_2_1s10.html
Ellsworth - "The common law of this country remains the same as it was before the revolution."
He is of course right in a sense, but not wholly right. Most of the common law was continued in the United States, but parts that were completely incompatible with the new national character were eliminated, such as "corruption of blood" or Primogeniture.
As a matter of fact, the Pennsylvania legislature instructed their Supreme Court to wade through English law and inform them which parts of English law remained in effect and were consistent with the new national character.
I have read that other states did the same thing.