| Description |
1 online resource (xv, 236 pages) |
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text file |
| Summary |
In the antebellum South, divorce was an explosive issue. As one lawmaker put it, divorce was to be viewed as a form of "madness," and as another asserted, divorce reduced communities to the "lowest ebb of degeneracy." How was it that in this climate, the number of divorces rose steadily during the antebellum era? In Families in Crisis, Loren Schweninger uses previously unexplored records to argue that the difficulties these divorcing families faced reveal much about the reality of life in a slave-holding society as well as the myriad difficulties confronted by white southern families who chose. |
| Contents |
Preface -- The evolution of divorce laws -- Adultery and the question of race -- Insanity, alcoholism, abandonment, and abuse -- Lawyers, judges, juries, and decrees -- Married women and property -- Slaves and owners' domestic conflicts -- Conclusion -- An essay on sources and methodology -- Appendix 1 -- Appendix 2 -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
Domestic relations -- United States.
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Domestic relations. |
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United States. |
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Divorce -- Law and legislation -- United States.
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Divorce -- Law and legislation. |
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Slavery -- Law and legislation -- United States.
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Slavery -- Law and legislation. |
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Adultery -- United States.
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Adultery. |
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Wife abuse -- United States.
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Wife abuse. |
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
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| Other Form: |
Print version: Schweninger, Loren. Families in crisis in the Old South. Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, ©2012 9780807835692 (DLC) 2012002040 (OCoLC)774147856 |
| ISBN |
9781469601625 (electronic book) |
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1469601621 (electronic book) |
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9780807837504 (electronic book) |
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0807837504 (electronic book) |
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9780807835692 (cloth ; alkaline paper) |
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0807835692 (cloth ; alkaline paper) |
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