The lawyer population exploded tenfold relative to population after the Revolution

Evidence

Under the conditions of American society, it would have been surprising if a narrow, elitist profession grew up—​a small, exclusive guild. No such profession developed. There were tendencies in this direction during the colonial period; but after the Revolution the dam burst, and the number of lawyers grew fantastically. It has never stopped growing. In Massachusetts, in 1740, there were only about fifteen lawyers (the population was about 150,000). A century later, in 1840, there were 640 lawyers in the state—​ten times as many in proportion to the population. The big push came after the Revolution. National figures are hard to come by. There is no accurate court before 1850. In that year, the census counted 24,000 lawyers in the country. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1815

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: US lawyers per capita stagnated for seventy years then suddenly doubled — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 476; American lawyer density doubled in fifty years and far exceeds Britain’s and Germany’s. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1003

Broader Connections

• US lawyers per capita stagnated for seventy years then suddenly doubled #contradicts (0.90) — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 476
• American lawyer density doubled in fifty years and far exceeds Britain’s and Germany’s. #expands (0.85) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1003