A judgment for Solomon : the d'Hauteville case and legal experience in antebellum America / Michael Grossberg.

Author
Grossberg, Michael, 1950- [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Description
1 online resource (xvii, 270 pages)

Availability

Available Online

Details

Subject(s)
Series
Cambridge historical studies in American law and society [More in this series]
Summary note
A Judgment for Solomon tells the story of the d'Hauteville case, a controversial child custody battle fought in 1840. It uses the story of one couple's bitter fight over their son to explore some timebound and timeless features of American legal culture. In a narrative analysis, it recounts how marital woes led Ellen and Gonzalve d'Hauteville into what Alexis de Tocqueville called the 'shadow of the law'. Their multiple legal experiences culminated in an eagerly followed Philadelphia trial that sparked a national debate over the legal rights and duties of mothers and fathers, and husbands and wives. The story of the d'Hauteville case explains why popular trials become 'precedents of legal experience' - mediums for debates about highly contested social issues. It also demonstrates the ability of individual women and men to contribute to legal change by turning to the law to fight for what they want.
Notes
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).
Other title(s)
Cambridge University Press. History.
ISBN
9780511528682 (ebook)
Statement on language in description
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