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Women before the court
Law and patriarchy in the Anglo-American world, 1600–1800
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2019
About this book
This book offers an innovative, comparative approach to the study of women’s legal rights during a formative period of Anglo–American history. It traces how colonists transplanted English legal institutions to America, examines the remarkable depth of women’s legal knowledge and shows how the law increasingly undermined patriarchal relationships between parents and children, masters and servants, husbands and wives. The book will be of interest to scholars of Britain and colonial America, and to laypeople interested in how women in the past navigated and negotiated the structures of authority that governed them. It is packed with fascinating stories that women related to the courts in cases ranging from murder and abuse to debt and estate litigation. Ultimately, it makes a remarkable contribution to our understandings of law, power and gender in the early modern world.
Author / Editor information
Lindsay R. Moore teaches European and World History at University of Missouri-Kansas City
Reviews
'this book skilfully ties together the varied experiences of women living and litigating in England and North America across the early modern period. The book will be of interest to historians of women and legal history in Britain and the Atlantic, and should be commended for bringing together scholars who are prone to focus on particular countries or jurisdictions as case studies.'
Rebecca Mason, Reviews in History
'Women before the Court offers much to scholars on both sides of the Atlantic. [...] This book may be
considered required reading for scholars of women, family, property, commerce, and law in seventeenth-
and eighteenth-century Anglo-America. It also provides a valuable comparative overview for scholars working on the same topics in other countries and regions. For its brevity, helpful exposition of many legal complexities, long time frame, and comparative structure, Women before the Court could also make an excellent choice as a classroom text.'
Journal of British Studies
Rebecca Mason, Reviews in History
'Women before the Court offers much to scholars on both sides of the Atlantic. [...] This book may be
considered required reading for scholars of women, family, property, commerce, and law in seventeenth-
and eighteenth-century Anglo-America. It also provides a valuable comparative overview for scholars working on the same topics in other countries and regions. For its brevity, helpful exposition of many legal complexities, long time frame, and comparative structure, Women before the Court could also make an excellent choice as a classroom text.'
Journal of British Studies
Topics
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Front matter
i -
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Contents
v -
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List of tables
vi -
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Acknowledgements
vii -
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Introduction
1 - Part I: The courts and the law
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1 The varieties of Anglo-American law
21 -
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2 Women as plaintiffs and defendants
39 - Part II: The family and society
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3 Masters and mistresses, servants and slaves
59 -
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4 Wives and (unwed) mothers
81 -
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5 Inheritance and family feuds
105 - Part III: The economy and equity
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6 Economic expansion and the erosion of patriarchy
133 -
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Bibliography
159 -
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Index
171
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
September 20, 2023
eBook ISBN:
9781526136343
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9781526136343
Keywords for this book
Women; Law; England; Maryland; Patriarchy; Common law; Equity law; Ecclesiastical law; South Carolina; Massachusetts
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
