A History Of Matrimonial Institutions - free ebook by George Elliott Howard

Read as playlist

A History Of Matrimonial Institutions

George Elliott Howard

45 chapters

19 hour read

Read as playlist

Selected Chapters

45 chapters

a history of Matrimonial Institutions

a history of Matrimonial Institutions

CHIEFLY IN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE AND THE THEORIES OF PRIMITIVE MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY BY GEORGE ELLIOTT HOWARD Ph.D. PROFESSORIAL LECTURER IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO AUTHOR OF "LOCAL CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES" VOLUME ONE CHICAGO THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CALLAGHAN &amp; COMPANY ———— LONDON T. FISHER UNWIN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE 1904 Copyright 1904 The University of Chicago ———— Entered at Stationers' Hall May, 19

31 minute read

Read Chapter

PREFACE

PREFACE

It is an encouraging sign of advancing culture that history is gaining a deeper and broader meaning. We are really becoming interested, not merely in our political, but also in our entire biological, psychological, and social evolution. Although such phrase-making is nearly always misleading, there would perhaps be more truth in saying that "history is past sociology and sociology present history" than in Freeman's well-known epigram. In particular, the human family, with all that the word conno

3 minute read

Read Chapter

I. STATEMENT OF THE THEORY

I. STATEMENT OF THE THEORY

Students of comparative institutions have generally regarded the family as the unit or germ from which the higher forms of social organism have been evolved. A German scholar declares that among all the races of antiquity "the constitution of the family was the basis and prototype of the constitution of the state." [8] The same theory is clearly set forth and the process of political expansion carefully described by Plato and also by Aristotle, [9] who base it upon their own observation both amo

4 minute read

Read Chapter

II. CRITICISM OF THE THEORY BY SPENCER AND McLENNAN

II. CRITICISM OF THE THEORY BY SPENCER AND McLENNAN

The patriarchal family of the Ancient Law , whose leading features have now been presented, reappears with slight modification in the later writings of Sir Henry Maine. [25] It has been widely accepted. Yet it was inevitable that a theory which on its face appears to neglect many of the most remarkable facts everywhere observable in the social life of primitive men [26] should arouse most serious doubt. Nor will it do, with Starcke, [27] to excuse the author on the ground that his conclusions ar

3 minute read

Read Chapter

III. THE THEORY IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT RESEARCH

III. THE THEORY IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT RESEARCH

Let us now see somewhat more in detail what light is thrown by recent investigation on the controversy between Maine and McLennan. Westermarck has taken great pains to enumerate the uncivilized peoples, chiefly non-Aryan, among whom descent and usually inheritance follow the paternal side; [40] and he finds that the number is "scarcely less" than the number of those among whom the female line is exclusively recognized. But in many of these cases it seems probable that the parental rather than th

31 minute read

Read Chapter

I. BACHOFEN AND HIS DISCIPLES

I. BACHOFEN AND HIS DISCIPLES

In the same year with the Ancient Law appeared a book which was destined to have an extraordinary influence in giving a new direction to speculation and research. This was the Mutterrecht of the Swiss scholar Johann Jacob Bachofen, whose memory is revered by many followers. [93] The author shows a wide and minute acquaintance with classic literature and the early myths; but his work is fantastic and almost wholly devoid of scientific method. [94] The material is drawn mainly from two sources: th

25 minute read

Read Chapter

II. MORGAN'S CONSTRUCTIVE THEORY

II. MORGAN'S CONSTRUCTIVE THEORY

The doctrine of the primitive horde as the starting-point of social evolution has a special interest in connection with the researches of Lewis H. Morgan and J. F. McLennan. Though their principal works appeared subsequently to that of Bachofen, [187] each has reached his conclusions independently; and each, rejecting the patriarchal family as the primordial unit, has set forth what may be called a "constructive" theory of uniform social progress. In the hands of each marriage and the family are

12 minute read

Read Chapter

III. McLENNAN'S CONSTRUCTIVE THEORY

III. McLENNAN'S CONSTRUCTIVE THEORY

McLennan's theory [234] starts also with man in a condition, as he conceives it, resembling that of other gregarious animals. The unions of the sexes are "probably, in the earliest times, loose, transitory, and in some degree promiscuous." [235] There is no idea of consanguinity, though men may always have been held together by that "feeling of kindred" which arises in "filial and fraternal affection." [236] Everywhere when society emerges from this condition kinship is traced in the female line

16 minute read

Read Chapter

I. THE PROBLEM OF PROMISCUITY

I. THE PROBLEM OF PROMISCUITY

The researches of several recent writers, notably those of Starcke and Westermarck, confirming in part and further developing the earlier conclusions of Darwin and Spencer, have established a probability that marriage or pairing between one man and one woman, though the union be often transitory and the rule frequently violated, is the typical form of sexual union from the infancy of the human race. The problem is not yet fully worked out; but if in the end the theory of original promiscuity mus

22 minute read

Read Chapter

II. THE PROBLEM OF MOTHER-RIGHT

II. THE PROBLEM OF MOTHER-RIGHT

Such is the case with attempts to account for kinship in the female line. McLennan thinks it "inconceivable" that it can be due to any cause other than uncertainty of fatherhood; and he holds therefore that it must have preceded the paternal system. [334] Careful research, however, has shown that these assumptions are far from axiomatic. In the first place, the acute criticism of Friedrichs is deserving of special attention. Among a number of low races where relationship with the begetter is not

6 minute read

Read Chapter

III. THE PROBLEM OF EXOGAMY

III. THE PROBLEM OF EXOGAMY

The case is much the same with the problem of exogamy, which is closely connected with the question of kinship. According to McLennan, as already seen, exogamy, or the prohibition of marriage within the clan, owes its rise to wife-capture occasioned by scarcity of women through female infanticide; and it is contrasted with the opposite custom of endogamy, which, it is alleged, usually implies a higher stage of civilization. This account of its origin, he thinks, is, on the whole, the "only one w

18 minute read

Read Chapter

IV. THE PROBLEM OF THE SUCCESSIVE FORMS OF THE FAMILY

IV. THE PROBLEM OF THE SUCCESSIVE FORMS OF THE FAMILY

From the preceding analysis it will appear, we trust, that scientific examination of the problems of kinship and exogamy has disclosed something of the real origin of the laws which govern human sexual relations. The searching criticism to which the theory of polyandry has been subjected, in connection with the opposite custom of polygyny, carries us still nearer the truth. For, in the light of recent research, it does not seem entirely hopeless to discover a trace of the actual sequence in whic

31 minute read

Read Chapter

I. WIFE-CAPTURE AND THE SYMBOL OF RAPE[472]

I. WIFE-CAPTURE AND THE SYMBOL OF RAPE[472]

According to McLennan, as we have already seen, capture as a means of getting wives is a universal practice among primitive men. It is due to polyandry occasioned by a scarcity of women; it leads to exogamy; and it is generally superseded by contract in the form of wife-purchase. [473] The evidence of the former universality of the custom is derived from two sources: first, the existence of actual wife-capture among many peoples in all parts of the world; second, the symbol of rape in the marria

24 minute read

Read Chapter

II. WIFE-PURCHASE AND ITS SURVIVAL IN THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY

II. WIFE-PURCHASE AND ITS SURVIVAL IN THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY

It is a common opinion that marriage by purchase supersedes wife-capture as a later and higher stage of development. Such apparently is the view of McLennan, who regards the purchase-contract as of late origin and as the principal means by which the transition from the maternal to the paternal system of kinship and to the individual family was brought about. [555] Post declares that bride-purchase is a universal phase of development, more advanced than that of wife-capture; [556] and he agrees w

23 minute read

Read Chapter

III. THE ANTIQUITY OF SELF-BETROTHAL OR FREE MARRIAGE

III. THE ANTIQUITY OF SELF-BETROTHAL OR FREE MARRIAGE

We have now traced in broad outline the extent of wife-purchase, and studied its general character and its principal forms. It appears essentially as a real contract of sale between third parties. Technically, at least, the bride and sometimes the bridegroom have nothing to do with the transaction. We have seen incidentally that the purchase-contract tends to become a ceremonial conveyance, and the bride-price to disappear in the dower. This transition is a fact of great social and legal import,

11 minute read

Read Chapter

IV. PRIMITIVE FREE MARRIAGE SURVIVING WITH PURCHASE, AND THE DECAY OF THE PURCHASE-CONTRACT

IV. PRIMITIVE FREE MARRIAGE SURVIVING WITH PURCHASE, AND THE DECAY OF THE PURCHASE-CONTRACT

It is commonly assumed that where marriage by purchase exists woman must necessarily be in an abject condition. The "average facts," says Spencer, "show that at first women are regarded by men simply as property, and continue to be so regarded through several later stages: they are valued as domestic cattle." [680] Such also is the opinion of Letourneau, who takes a very pessimistic view of the early condition of woman. During a long period her wishes in marriage were utterly ignored. The sale o

14 minute read

Read Chapter

I. THE RIGHT OF DIVORCE

I. THE RIGHT OF DIVORCE

Few of the results of recent research are more surprising than the revelation of the existence among low races of elaborate systems of unwritten law covering, often in a very orderly and comprehensive way, most of the divisions which one ordinarily associates with "civilized" jurisprudence. [724] This is especially true of the law of divorce. The investigations of various scholars, notably those of Kohler, Letourneau, Westermarck, and Post, have disclosed among the barbarous or even savage races

16 minute read

Read Chapter

II. THE FORM OF DIVORCE

II. THE FORM OF DIVORCE

The form of divorce, like the rules relating to the right and its conditions, varies greatly among the races of mankind. Very frequently, usually among the lowest peoples, it takes place without any ceremony. [790] Sometimes, however, the procedure is fixed by law or custom. A symbolical act is occasionally sufficient, as with the east African Wazaramo, where the husband by way of divorce hands the wife a piece of holcus reed, on receiving which she must at once leave the house or be driven out.

1 minute read

Read Chapter

III. THE LEGAL EFFECTS OF DIVORCE

III. THE LEGAL EFFECTS OF DIVORCE

Not less diversified are the customs governing the effects of divorce; and here, as in the case of its varying forms and conditions, one is almost as often surprised by the reasonableness and stability of early institutions as he is shocked at their harshness or injustice when regarded from the civilized standpoint. In the disposal of the children the existing system of kinship is very widely determinative. Among a great many peoples, in case of separation, the children follow the father or the

6 minute read

Read Chapter

IV. FREQUENCY OF DIVORCE

IV. FREQUENCY OF DIVORCE

The laws of divorce among backward races, it is thus perceived, are full of interest for the student of social institutions. One comes from the study with a clearer perception of the fact that such institutions are but the outward expression of human life—of slow experience and experimentation; and one gains a deeper respect for the concrete results of primitive culture. Especially important is the relation of divorce to the stability of society. The conservatism prevailing even among rude peopl

3 minute read

Read Chapter

PART II MATRIMONIAL INSTITUTIONS IN ENGLAND

PART II MATRIMONIAL INSTITUTIONS IN ENGLAND

[ Bibliographical Note VI. —The leading sources for this chapter are, of course, the ancient folk-laws, drawn up after the wandering and settlement of the Teutonic peoples. Of these the most complete and the most primitive are the old English "codes," in Schmid's Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen (Leipzig, 1858), until recently the best edition available; or in Thorpe's Ancient Laws and Institutes of England (8vo, 2 vols.; folio, 1 vol.; Record Commission, London, 1840), which, though not so well edi

13 minute read

Read Chapter

I. THE PRIMITIVE REAL CONTRACT OF SALE AND ITS MODIFICATIONS

I. THE PRIMITIVE REAL CONTRACT OF SALE AND ITS MODIFICATIONS

It is not improbable, as already explained, that wife-capture may have existed among our ancestors, [837] though some of the evidence for its survival collected from the folk-laws by Dargun and others may perhaps more rationally be regarded merely as proof of the brutality and lawlessness incident to the transitional period of the "barbarian invasion." [838] The testimony of the law-books, however, points more clearly to the former existence of wife-purchase. With the Old English, as well as amo

17 minute read

Read Chapter

II. RISE OF FREE MARRIAGE: SELF-BEWEDDUNG AND SELF-GIFTA

II. RISE OF FREE MARRIAGE: SELF-BEWEDDUNG AND SELF-GIFTA

Already in the eleventh century the forms of marriage were entering upon another stage. It is possible, in the historical period, as already seen, that a valid marriage could arise in abduction, through subsequent payment of a fine; and it is not impossible that side by side with wife-purchase the custom of free marriage by simple agreement of the parties may have existed, as we have found it existing among other peoples. But the practice could not have been widely extended, and it may imply mer

20 minute read

Read Chapter

I. THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN BENEDICTION, THE BRIDE-MASS, AND THE CELEBRATION AD OSTIUM ECCLESIAE

I. THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN BENEDICTION, THE BRIDE-MASS, AND THE CELEBRATION AD OSTIUM ECCLESIAE

It is a noteworthy fact that the early church accepted and sanctioned the existing temporal forms of marriage. Her energy was directed mainly to the task of enforcing her own rules relating to marriage disabilities, such as those arising in affinity or nearness of kin; to devising restraints upon the freedom of divorce and second marriage; and to administering matrimonial judicature. [937] But the existing legal character and the popular forms of betrothal and nuptials were not disturbed. During

16 minute read

Read Chapter

II. THE PRIEST SUPERSEDES THE CHOSEN GUARDIAN, AND SPONSALIA PER VERBA DE PRAESENTI ARE VALID

II. THE PRIEST SUPERSEDES THE CHOSEN GUARDIAN, AND SPONSALIA PER VERBA DE PRAESENTI ARE VALID

Thus it appears that between the first and twelfth centuries the religious element in the marriage ceremony runs through three phases, not sharply defined by dates, but overlapping and blending; and for the sake of clearness it may be well to summarize the history of this development before proceeding farther. (1) During about four centuries no liturgy was prescribed; the ancient popular forms of contract were accepted; the nuptials were usually celebrated in the home of the bride, less often in

21 minute read

Read Chapter

I. THE EARLY CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE AND THE RISE OF THE CANONICAL THEORY

I. THE EARLY CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE AND THE RISE OF THE CANONICAL THEORY

It was most unfortunate for civilization that the Christian conception of the nature of marriage should have sprung from asceticism, and that the verbal subtlety of the schoolmen should have produced the cardinal definitions upon which the validity of marriage contracts, and therefore the practical administration of matrimonial law, were made to depend. The mediæval teaching regarding forbidden degrees, the sacramental nature of matrimony, and the difference between contracts de futuro and de pr

14 minute read

Read Chapter

II. CLANDESTINE MARRIAGES THE FRUIT OF THE CANONICAL THEORY

II. CLANDESTINE MARRIAGES THE FRUIT OF THE CANONICAL THEORY

The way was thus cleared for clandestine marriages. All efficient restraints upon hasty unions were rejected; and often it became impossible for the courts or even the parties themselves to know whether a man and a woman were legally husband and wife or their children legitimate. Seldom have mere theory and subtle quibbling had more disastrous consequences in practical life than in the case of the distinction between sponsalia de praesenti and de futuro . The difference was not essential, but pu

11 minute read

Read Chapter

III. THE EVILS OF THE SPIRITUAL JURISDICTION

III. THE EVILS OF THE SPIRITUAL JURISDICTION

The separation of the temporal and spiritual courts and the tenacity with which early custom and theory were preserved in the common law [1114] render the history of matrimonial judicature anomalous in England. The leading case occurs in the reign of Stephen. "Richard de Anesty's memorable law-suit [1115] was the outcome of a divorce pronounced in 1143 under the authority of a papal rescript, and one that to all appearance illustrated what was to be a characteristic doctrine of the canon law: a

8 minute read

Read Chapter

IV. PUBLICITY SOUGHT THROUGH BANNS AND REGISTRATION

IV. PUBLICITY SOUGHT THROUGH BANNS AND REGISTRATION

Without doubt the wrong and confusion arising in the ecclesiastical theory and definition of marriage were manifold,h3 and they were patent to every observer. At the Council of Trent it was asserted that some action to put a check upon clandestine marriages was demanded by all the temporal powers; [1150] and the provincial church councils, aided by state legislation, had done what they could by imposing; penalties to remedy the abuse. [1151] Nevertheless, strange as it may seem to one not acquai

23 minute read

Read Chapter

I. AS TO THE FORM OF MARRIAGE

I. AS TO THE FORM OF MARRIAGE

The Protestant Reformation in Germany produced many ideas which were eventually fruitful for good in the history of matrimonial law; but unfortunately, owing to a number of causes, more than two centuries were to elapse before any effective remedy was provided for the evils of clandestine wedlock. Ecclesiastical rites were prescribed by the authority of the state as the best means of securing publicity; but neither Luther [1164] nor the other Protestant leaders insisted upon them as necessary to

15 minute read

Read Chapter

II. AS TO THE NATURE OF MARRIAGE

II. AS TO THE NATURE OF MARRIAGE

In its practical results, therefore, the Reformation had little effect on law and theory as to the form of wedlock. For England it had no significance at all; and the same is true of Germany, except so far as Luther's view of the sponsalia may have found some expression in legislation and judicial decree. With respect to the nature of marriage the case is very different. The dogma of its sacramental character was abandoned throughout the Protestant world. [1214] In its place a new conception aro

13 minute read

Read Chapter

III. CHILD-MARRIAGES IN THE AGE OF ELIZABETH

III. CHILD-MARRIAGES IN THE AGE OF ELIZABETH

Seldom has a more vivid light been thrown on social conditions than that afforded for the age of Elizabeth by the depositions taken in the bishop's court of the diocese of Chester, 1561-66, and edited for the Early English Text Society by Furnivall in 1897. Their value for the student is enhanced by the very lively "forewords" of the learned and enthusiastic editor. The evils naturally flowing from the law and doctrine of espousals are here realistically disclosed in the "trothplights" and the s

16 minute read

Read Chapter

I. CROMWELL'S CIVIL MARRIAGE ACT, 1653

I. CROMWELL'S CIVIL MARRIAGE ACT, 1653

It was not until the middle of the seventeenth century that the ideas of the early German [1280] Reformation relating to the temporal nature of marriage gained ascendancy in England, and then only for the brief period of the Commonwealth. Yet the civil-marriage act of 1653 is of extraordinary historical interest, not only as an example of the statesmanship of Cromwell, so often anticipating the reforms of our own age, but especially as being mainly the result of the revolt of the Puritans, more

30 minute read

Read Chapter

II. FLEET MARRIAGES AND THE HARDWICKE ACT, 1753

II. FLEET MARRIAGES AND THE HARDWICKE ACT, 1753

In order to understand the cumulative influences which finally in the middle of the eighteenth century produced the next English statute prescribing a definite form for marriages, it will be necessary to point out the anomalies of the old system which during the period between the Restoration and that time led to abuses of a most startling character. Previous to the reign of William III. only spiritual punishment had been imposed for secret marriages; but under that monarch begins a series of ac

24 minute read

Read Chapter

III. THE PRESENT ENGLISH LAW

III. THE PRESENT ENGLISH LAW

There were, however, serious defects in the act of 1753. It was conceived in a spirit of bigoted intolerance toward Roman Catholics and all dissenters—save only Jews and Quakers—who were thus forced against their consciences to accept the rites of the established church; and the law was far too rigid in matters of detail. The harsh treatment of dissenters is all the more remarkable because "their privileges were abridged" by the act; for previous to 1753 they had been at liberty to celebrate the

5 minute read

Read Chapter

A HISTORY OF Matrimonial Institutions

A HISTORY OF Matrimonial Institutions

CHIEFLY IN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE AND THE THEORIES OF PRIMITIVE MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY BY GEORGE ELLIOTT HOWARD Ph.D. PROFESSORIAL LECTURER IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO AUTHOR OF "LOCAL CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES" VOLUME TWO CHICAGO THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CALLAGHAN &amp; COMPANY ————— LONDON T. FISHER UNWIN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE 1904 Copyright 1904 The University of Chicago Entered at Stationers' Hall May, 1904 T

32 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XI HISTORY OF SEPARATION AND DIVORCE UNDER ENGLISH AND ECCLESIASTICAL LAW

CHAPTER XI HISTORY OF SEPARATION AND DIVORCE UNDER ENGLISH AND ECCLESIASTICAL LAW

Heading the modern literature is Richter's able Beiträge zur Geschichte des Ehescheidungsrechts in der evang. Kirche (Berlin, 1858), which has the special merit of first classifying the post-Reformation writers on divorce according to their more rigid or more liberal tendencies. The subject is also treated with the usual precision and thoroughness in his Lehrbuch des kath. und evang. Kirchenrechts (8th ed., Leipzig, 1886). Important likewise are Strippelmann, Das Ehescheidungsrecht (Cassel, 1854

2 hour read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XII OBLIGATORY CIVIL MARRIAGE IN THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES

CHAPTER XII OBLIGATORY CIVIL MARRIAGE IN THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES

Illustrative material has likewise been gathered from a large number of writers, among whom are Palfrey, History of New England (Boston, 1888-90); Carlier, Le mariage aux États-Unis (Paris, 1860); Oliver, Puritan Commonwealth (Boston, 1856); Doyle, English Colonies (New York, 1882-87); Ellis, Puritan Age (Boston, 1888); Dexter, Congregationalism (New York, 1880); Bacon, Genesis of the New England Churches (New York, 1874); Belknap, History of New Hampshire (Dover, 1812); Green, Short History of

2 hour read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XIII ECCLESIASTICAL RITES AND THE RISE OF CIVIL MARRIAGE IN THE SOUTHERN COLONIES

CHAPTER XIII ECCLESIASTICAL RITES AND THE RISE OF CIVIL MARRIAGE IN THE SOUTHERN COLONIES

[ Bibliographical Note XIII. —For Virginia the chief materials have been drawn from Hening's Statutes at Large (Richmond, 1809-23), and the laws comprised in Acts of the Assembly (fol., Williamsburg, 1769). The third volume of O'Callaghan, Documents Rel. to the Col. History of New York , has an interesting memorial of the bishop of London written in 1677; and there are some references to marriage in Strachey, For the Colony in Virginea Britannea: Lawes Diuine, Morall, and Martiall , being "Dale'

2 hour read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XIV OPTIONAL CIVIL OR ECCLESIASTICAL MARRIAGE IN THE MIDDLE COLONIES

CHAPTER XIV OPTIONAL CIVIL OR ECCLESIASTICAL MARRIAGE IN THE MIDDLE COLONIES

[ Bibliographical Note XIV. —The New York Colonial MSS. , of more service for the history of divorce, afford several important documents available for the present chapter. The use of these papers is facilitated by O'Callaghan's Calendar of Historical Manuscripts (Albany, 1866). Among the treasures also preserved in the State Library at Albany may be found the MS. copy of the Dongan Laws , including the marriage act of 1684 concerning which there has been much discussion; and some forty volumes o

3 hour read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XV DIVORCE IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES

CHAPTER XV DIVORCE IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES

[ Bibliographical Note XV. —The most valuable original material for the history of divorce in Massachusetts during the period of the first charter is afforded by the decisions of the court of assistants in the exercise of its primary jurisdiction. These may be found in Vol. I of the Colonial Records , to September 7, 1641; the Barlow MS. Records of the Court of Assistants , October 28, 1641, to March 5, 1643/44; published by Whitmore in Bibliographical Sketch of the Laws of the Mass. Colony (Bos

49 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XVI A CENTURY AND A QUARTER OF MARRIAGE LEGISLATION IN THE UNITED STATES, 1776-1903

CHAPTER XVI A CENTURY AND A QUARTER OF MARRIAGE LEGISLATION IN THE UNITED STATES, 1776-1903

[ Bibliographical Note XVI. —For this chapter all the statutes relating to marriage enacted in fifty-two states and territories since the Revolution have been examined and compared, Hawaii not being included. The session laws and various compilations of statutes consulted are described in the Bibliographical Index, V, and need not here be named in detail. Hitherto a history of matrimonial legislation in the United States has not appeared; but summaries of the laws of the various states have been

2 hour read

Read Chapter

A HISTORY OF Matrimonial Institutions CHIEFLY IN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE AND THE THEORIES OF PRIMITIVE MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY

A HISTORY OF Matrimonial Institutions CHIEFLY IN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE AND THE THEORIES OF PRIMITIVE MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY

BY GEORGE ELLIOTT HOWARD Ph.D. PROFESSORIAL LECTURER IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO AUTHOR OF "LOCAL CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES" VOLUME THREE CHICAGO THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CALLAGHAN &amp; COMPANY LONDON T. FISHER UNWIN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE 1904 Copyright 1904 The University of Chicago Entered at Stationers' Hall May, 1904 TO Alice Frost Howard HER HUSBAND DEDICATES THIS BOOK IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF HER AID IN MAKING IT...

34 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XVII A CENTURY AND A QUARTER OF DIVORCE LEGISLATION IN THE UNITED STATES, 1776-1903

CHAPTER XVII A CENTURY AND A QUARTER OF DIVORCE LEGISLATION IN THE UNITED STATES, 1776-1903

[ Bibliographical Note XVII. —The session laws and compilations used in the preparation of this chapter are the same as those mentioned in Bibliographical Note XVI; and they are listed in the Bibliographical Index, V. The entire body of divorce laws enacted in each of the states and territories since 1775 has been examined. Among the decisions cited the most important are West Cambridge v. Lexington (October, 1823), 1 Pickering, Mass. Reports , 507-12; Putnam v. Putnam (September, 1829), 8 Picke

2 hour read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XVIII PROBLEMS OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY

CHAPTER XVIII PROBLEMS OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY

[ Bibliographical Note XVIII. —Materials for a more extended study of the questions touched upon in this chapter are set forth in Part IV of the Bibliographical Index. Wright's Report on Marriage and Divorce is, of course, indispensable. It may be supplemented from the Eleventh Census, U. S. , I; the Census of Massachusetts , 1875, 1885, 1895; the Registration Reports of the New England states, of which the forty-first for Massachusetts is most important; and from those of Indiana, Illinois, Mic

41 minute read

Read Chapter