Cite as: 512 U. S. 267 (1994)
Opinion of the Court
to "go forward with evidence"); Webre Steib Co. v. Commissioner, 324 U. S. 164, 171 (1945) (claimant bears a "burden of going forward with evidence . . . as well as the burden of proof") (emphasis added). During this period the Courts of Appeals also limited the meaning of burden of proof to burden of persuasion, and explicitly distinguished this concept from the burden of production.*
The emerging consensus on a definition of burden of proof was reflected in the evidence treatises of the 1930's and 1940's. "The burden of proof is the obligation which rests on one of the parties to an action to persuade the trier of the facts, generally the jury, of the truth of a proposition which he has affirmatively asserted by the pleadings." W. Richardson, Evidence 143 (6th ed. 1944); see also 1 B. Jones, Law of Evidence in Civil Cases 310 (4th ed. 1938) ("The modern authorities are substantially agreed that, in its strict primary sense, 'burden of proof' signifies the duty or obligation of establishing, in the mind of the trier of facts, conviction on the ultimate issue"); J. McKelvey, Evidence 64 (4th ed. 1932) ("[T]he proper meaning of [burden of proof]" is "the duty of the person alleging the case to prove it," rather than "the duty of the one party or the other to introduce evidence").
We interpret Congress' use of the term "burden of proof" in light of this history, and presume Congress intended the phrase to have the meaning generally accepted in the legal community at the time of enactment. Holmes v. Securities Investor Protection Corporation, 503 U. S. 258, 268 (1992); Miles v. Apex Marine Corp., 498 U. S. 19, 32 (1990); Cannon
*See, e. g., Lee v. State Bank & Trust Co., 38 F. 2d 45, 48 (CA2 1930); United States v. Knoles, 75 F. 2d 557, 561 (CA8 1935); Department of Water and Power of Los Angeles v. Anderson, 95 F. 2d 577, 583 (CA9 1938); Rossman v. Blunt, 104 F. 2d 877, 880 (CA6 1939); Cory v. Commissioner, 126 F. 2d 689, 694 (CA3 1942); Commissioner v. Bain Peanut Co. of Tex., 134 F. 2d 853, 860, n. 2 (CA5 1943); New York Life Ins. Co. v. Taylor, 147 F. 2d 297, 301 (CADC 1945).
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