Property-owning Americans demanded accessible divorce to protect family claims and titles.

Evidence

Divorce was rare and expensive in England—​until 1857, practically speaking, divorce was available only through an act of Parliament. Divorce was also extremely rare in colonial America. Here, too, divorce was mainly “legislative”; that is, each divorce was a separate law passed by a colonial assembly. In the nineteenth century, divorces became more common and also easier to get, especially in the northern states. Many states passed laws that allowed “judicial” divorce—​divorce as we know it, divorce in court. … Why? Because legal status makes a difference to people who have money or who own a farm or a house. For such people (and this category included millions of Americans) it was important to be sure of one’s legal status. Divorce and remarriage was the best way to keep titles and claims of ownership clean and distinct: it made sure that one’s children were legitimate, that the right wife inherited a husband’s property, and so on. A society of land­ less peasants or paupers can do without formal divorce. Americans could not. — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 259

Categorization

• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Rising divorce reflected bourgeois demand for formal record-keeping — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 2876

Broader Connections

• Rising divorce reflected bourgeois demand for formal record-keeping #expands (0.85) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 2876