The Great Catastrophe of My Life: Divorce in the Old DominionUniversity of North Carolina Press, 2002 - 346 pages From the end of the Revolution until 1851, the Virginia legislature granted most divorces in the state. It granted divorces rarely, however, turning down two-thirds of those who petitioned for them. Men and women who sought release from unhappy marriages faced a harsh legal system buttressed by the political, religious, and communal cultures of southern life. Through the lens of this hostile environment, Thomas Buckley explores with sympathy the lives and legal struggles of those who challenged it. Based on research in almost 500 divorce files, The Great Catastrophe of My Life involves a wide cross-section of Virginians. Their stories expose southern attitudes and practices involving a spectrum of issues from marriage and family life to gender relations, interracial sex, adultery, desertion, and domestic violence. Although the oppressive legal regime these husbands and wives battled has passed away, the emotions behind their efforts to dissolve the bonds of marriage still resonate strongly. |
Table des matières
The Political Arena | 13 |
The Religious Culture | 46 |
The Communal Setting | 80 |
Droits d'auteur | |
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The Great Catastrophe of My Life: Divorce in the Old Dominion Thomas E. Buckley Affichage d'extraits - 2002 |
Expressions et termes fréquents
absolute divorce abuse adultery affidavits antebellum assembly battered Benton Bourne Campbell Carolina Chancery chap child county court couple daughter divorce divorce bill divorce petitions Elizabeth Family Papers father Francis Thomas Frank friends George Tucker happiness Henry House husband ibid interracial Isle of Wight James McDowell Jemima JHDV John Pryor Joseph Josiah Parker jury later lawyer legislative divorce legislature letter lived male marital marriage married Martha Mary Maryland Mettauer Miller minister mulatto neighbors Parker petitioners Presbyterian Prince Edward County religious riage Richmond Enquirer Richmond Whig Robert Sally McDowell Sally's Sarah sexual slave social society South Southern spouses Susan tion told trial Turnbull U.S. Census Bureau University Press Virginia Virginia General Assembly vorce Walton Knight wedding wife wife's William Bourne William Cowper wives woman women wrote
Références à ce livre
Braided Relations, Entwined Lives: The Women of Charleston's Urban Slave Society Cynthia M. Kennedy Affichage d'extraits - 2005 |
Braided Relations, Entwined Lives: The Women of Charleston's Urban Slave Society Cynthia M. Kennedy Affichage d'extraits - 2005 |