Difference between revisions of "Week 8 Questions/Comments-327 09"
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(→New England Divorce, CT, 1655-1678; MD, 1680) |
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== New England Divorce, CT, 1655-1678; MD, 1680 == | == New England Divorce, CT, 1655-1678; MD, 1680 == | ||
| − | What caught my attention the most in this piece was the case of Robert Wade (1657). First, I love how they write, "in refrence to his wives unworthy, sinfull, yea, unnatural cariage towards him..." As if the woman is a complete monster. And, in the other cases (which were all of women divorcing their husbands), they do not say anything about the husbands were so horrible just that they did something wrong or have been gone, etc. and that is it. Obviously, the courts must have thought that if a woman deserted her husband then that is much more horrible than if the man deserted his wife. | + | What caught my attention the most in this piece was the case of Robert Wade (1657). First, I love how they write, "in refrence to his wives unworthy, sinfull, yea, unnatural cariage towards him..." As if the woman is a complete monster. And, in the other cases (which were all of women divorcing their husbands), they do not say anything about the husbands were so horrible just that they did something wrong or have been gone, etc. and that is it. Obviously, the courts must have thought that if a woman deserted her husband then that is much more horrible than if the man deserted his wife. '''Bold text''' |
| − | The other thing that caught my eye was the fact that this is a man asking for a divorce, and all the others are women asking for the divorce. I would bet that the men may have thought it beneath them to ask for a divorce, even if they wanted it, and that is why man asking for a divorce is much less common. -Kristina.S. | + | The other thing that caught my eye was the fact that this is a man asking for a divorce, and all the others are women asking for the divorce. '''I would bet that the men may have thought it beneath them to ask for a divorce, even if they wanted it, and that is why man asking for a divorce is much less common.''' -Kristina.S. |
| − | The fact that Connecticut permitted divorces does extend some legal protection for abandoned married women. However, it is obvious that the Connecticut legislature was more sympathetic to men seeking this divorce-by-neglect rather than women. When Goody Beckwith and Hanna Huit requested a divorce, the legislature required others to testify that the women’s story of their husbands’ desertion was true. However, when Robert Wade=2 0requested a divorce from his runaway wife, the legislature was horrified, obviously sympathetic, and did not bother to double-check his story. A modern observer should not declare the new legal action of divorce a total triumph for the rights of women. -Allison Luthern | + | The fact that Connecticut permitted divorces does extend some legal protection for abandoned married women. However, it is obvious that the Connecticut legislature was more sympathetic to men seeking this divorce-by-neglect rather than women. When Goody Beckwith and Hanna Huit requested a divorce, the legislature required others to testify that the women’s story of their husbands’ desertion was true. However, when Robert Wade=2 0requested a divorce from his runaway wife, the legislature was horrified, obviously sympathetic, and did not bother to double-check his story. '''A modern observer should not declare the new legal action of divorce a total triumph for the rights of women.''' -Allison Luthern |
I find the Connecticut divorce cases to be really interesting. By today's standards these all seem like obvious reasons for divorce. Abandonment, for example, would be a justified reason for divorce after 7 years. I can't help but think of all those individuals everywhere else in America who had been abandoned but were still considered married. -Erin Sanderson | I find the Connecticut divorce cases to be really interesting. By today's standards these all seem like obvious reasons for divorce. Abandonment, for example, would be a justified reason for divorce after 7 years. I can't help but think of all those individuals everywhere else in America who had been abandoned but were still considered married. -Erin Sanderson | ||
| − | In response to Kristina, I agree that men probably thought it was beneath them to ask for divorce. However, I also think that it would be a lot harder for an abandoned women to survive without a husband (she would probably be living in poverty) then it would be for a man to survive without his wife. This gives women incentive to get a divorce, that way they could remarry. -- Erin Sanderson | + | In response to Kristina, I agree that men probably thought it was beneath them to ask for divorce. However, I also think that '''it would be a lot harder for an abandoned women to survive without a husband (she would probably be living in poverty) then it would be for a man to survive without his wife. This gives women incentive to get a divorce, that way they could remarry.''' -- Erin Sanderson |
| − | I thought it was interesting how similar the grounds for divorce in New England and modern divorce are. It seems that in this area many of the overall concepts and foundations are the same. The reasons seem to be standard and the only difference is that there was a double standard. They were obvious grounds for divorce if the indiscretions were committed by the wife and not the husband. Considering the rest of the country Connecticut was ahead of the game and practically modern! I wonder why that was that New England offered a more absolute divorce--Emma Peck | + | '''I thought it was interesting how similar the grounds for divorce in New England and modern divorce are. It seems that in this area many of the overall concepts and foundations are the same. The reasons seem to be standard and the only difference is that there was a double standard.''' They were obvious grounds for divorce if the indiscretions were committed by the wife and not the husband. Considering the rest of the country Connecticut was ahead of the game and practically modern! I wonder why that was that New England offered a more absolute divorce--Emma Peck |
== SC feme sole trader acts, 1712, 1744 == | == SC feme sole trader acts, 1712, 1744 == | ||
