Nations
Defined in 2 dictionaries — Bouvier (1914), Bouvier (1839)
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia
John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914
LAW OF. See International Law.
A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States
John Bouvier · 1839
Nations or states are independent bodies politic; societies of men united together for the purpose of promoting their mutual ‘safety and advantage by the joint efforts of their combined strength.: Such a society has her affairs and her interests; she deliberates and takes resolutions in common; thus becoming a moral person, who possesses an understanding and will peculiar to herself, and is susceptible of obligations and rights. Vattel, Prelim. § 1, 2; will consider a which has rive thrown off the yoke of the mother country as an independent state; and until the government have decided on the question, courts of justice are bound to consider the ancient state of things as remaining unchanged. 1 Johns. Ch. R. 543; see 5 Pet. 8. C. R. 1; 1 Kent, Com. 21; and Body Politic.