Impeachment—as a remedy for removing civil officers—was developed in England during the Middle Ages. American practices derive in part from the English procedures as they developed through the late 18th century. The British abandoned the use of impeachment proceedings shortly after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, but Parliament has retained the power to impeach.
The resources listed below discuss English impeachment procedure; the history of English impeachment; and the impeachment of Warren Hastings in the late 1700s. The print materials listed below link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online resources are provided when available.
Precedents of Proceedings in the House of Commons: With Observations by 
Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and Rules of the House of Representatives of the United States, with a Digest of the Practice by 
Impeachment: The Constitutional Problems by Oxford Essays in Medieval History Presented to Herbert Edward Salter by British Precedents on Power to Try Impeachment by A Treatise on Federal Impeachments by Impeachment and Parliamentary Judicature in Early Stuart England by Warren Hastings was the Governor-General of Bengal. Edmund Burke charged him with dishonesty in the House of Commons in 1786. The House of Commons impeached Hastings, but he was acquitted by the House of Lords after a trial that occurred over a number of years.
The History of the Trial of Warren Hastings, Esq., Late Governor-General of Bengal, before the High Court of Parliament in Westminster-Hall by The Impeachment of Warren Hastings by 
