Difference between revisions of "Week 3 Questions/Comments-327 11"
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(→TIED HAND AND FOOT -- ''Esther Burr, 1756-1757'') |
(→AN ABOMINABLE WICKEDNESS ''Abigail Bailey, 1815'') |
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This essay was the most compelling for me to read. It disgusts me that a father would abuse his child and engage in an incestuous relationship with them, but it further disgusts me that during this era there was almost nothing the mother could do about it. As a woman,and as a "feme covert" she lacked the basic rights and power she needed to put a stop to the behavior,(because of course this placed her in the same category with children, idiots and criminals) and although she was allowed to divorce her husband (amazingly) there was no way for him to be punished for his crimes because the daughter he was abusing refused to testify. I agree with Clare that she was most likely afraid of the outcome, and if the outcome of the trial didn't do as she planned, she would suffer even more after the fact. --Lindsey S. | This essay was the most compelling for me to read. It disgusts me that a father would abuse his child and engage in an incestuous relationship with them, but it further disgusts me that during this era there was almost nothing the mother could do about it. As a woman,and as a "feme covert" she lacked the basic rights and power she needed to put a stop to the behavior,(because of course this placed her in the same category with children, idiots and criminals) and although she was allowed to divorce her husband (amazingly) there was no way for him to be punished for his crimes because the daughter he was abusing refused to testify. I agree with Clare that she was most likely afraid of the outcome, and if the outcome of the trial didn't do as she planned, she would suffer even more after the fact. --Lindsey S. | ||
| − | + | I think that it took a lot of courage to finally tell her husband to either leave or face the consequences of his actions against his daughter, Phoebe. Abigail Bailey did the best she could do for the time frame. Had she done something without absolute proof of what he had done to Phoebe then it would be her word against hers and he would win, but because she had her suspicions of what was going on, she was finally able to get her daughter at least to talk to her about it. She didn’t want to get the law involved because she was trying to keep her children sheltered from what happened. We can say she should have done something sooner, but I think that she really thought he was going to hurt her or one of her children.--- Pam Petzold | |
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== TIED HAND AND FOOT -- ''Esther Burr, 1756-1757'' == | == TIED HAND AND FOOT -- ''Esther Burr, 1756-1757'' == | ||
