The brief history of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. §§901) begins in 1927, when the original Act was passed and includes significant amendments in 1972 and 1984, but the story of the circumstances and events that led to the passage of the Longshore Act begins much earlier. It involves the history of international maritime commerce and the general maritime law, the U.S. Constitution, social and cultural movements in the United States, the roles of Congress and the Courts in the U.S. system, the limits of state and federal authority, and the continuing development of workers’ compensation law in the United States.
