Divorce’s History in America

Millions of Americans have gone through the very personal experience of divorce. 10% of American adults have undergone broken marriages, and the most recently reported dissolution rate for the United States is 3.6 per thousand-over 900,000 per year. Single mother households make up 9.2% of American families, while 1.9% are led by single dads.

Divorce has been a choice for those living in the United States for just a brief time as compared to the country’s existence. Settlers of early America carried with them English laws allowing marriages to only be dissolved only if one partner could prove genuine fault with their partner, moreover, marriages could only be dissolved legislatively. Some of the traditional grounds have included adultery, desertion, habitual drunkenness, impotence, and general cruel and inhumane treatment. The partners would have to provide evidence of their grounds, beyond their sworn word; the state held that it was in the public interest not to dissolve marriages if possible.

Moreover, the partner suing to end a marriage had to himself or herself be innocent of grounds for dissolution. The decree might be denied by the courts if he or she was found guilty of, for example: contributing to the cause of the break-up, conspiring with the other party to provide grounds, or having forgiven similar behavior in the past. When a marriage ended, the father typically retained custody of any children, adding to the reluctance of many women to sue for dissolution of a marriage.

There was no place in 1800’s society for ex-wives to exist. It didn’t even know exactly what to call them. Among the middle and upper classes, a married woman was always referred to by her husband’s name (ie Mrs John Smith), retaining it even as a widow until she remarried. Using “Miss” or retaining her maiden name after her marriage had ended is not possible. Moreover, she had to change her name from “Mrs. John Smith,” to avoid having to face another woman with the same name in the same social group if her ex-husband, Mr. Smith, took another wife. As a compromise, women used both their maiden and married names, so a woman born Betty Jones, who married a man named Smith, would now be known as Mrs. Jones Smith.

Over time, the traditional ways of dissolving a marriage started to seem pointlessly cruel. Nevada was one of the first states to allow early decrees to dissolve a marriage; back in the early 20th century, a person only had to be a resident for six weeks before a dissolution decree could be issued. Restrictions on divorce are stricter in eastern states like Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts, and a minor industry arose around hosting people from those states.

By the mid-twentieth century, most states offered no-fault divorces. Additionally, the role for women changed also. It was becoming more and more practical for single women to support themselves and their children as better jobs became available to women. Also, people’s feelings concerning ending a marriage were changing. At one time, a woman whose marriage had ended was regarded with great suspicion and children of a “broken home” felt singled out by their peers. Gradually, these attitudes eroded as single-parent homes or households with unmarried parents became common. 28% of American children now live with a single parent.

Although today divorce is still a painful and difficult process for those who undergo it, much has changed in the last 200 years to make it a viable option for Americans. Ending a marriage is a long and complicated process, but it no longer requires detectives, acts of the legislature, or automatic loss of custody for the woman.