“A History of Matrimonial Institutions” is a book based on the author's belief that a thorough understanding of the social evolution of any people must rest upon the broader experience of mankind and that the human family, in particular, with all that the word connotes, is commanding greater attention. Accordingly, in the first part the attempt is made to present a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the literature and the theories of primitive matrimonial institutions, while the second and the third part feature the history of matrimonial institutions in England and in the United States.
Volume 1:
Analysis of the Literature and the Theories of Primitive Matrimonial Institutions:
The Patriarchal Theory
Theory of the Horde and Mother-Right
Theory of the Original Pairing or Monogamous Family
Rise of the Marriage Contract
Early History of Divorce
Matrimonial Institutions in England:
Old English Wife-Purchase Yields to Free Marriage
Rise of Ecclesiastical Marriage: The Church Accepts the Lay Contract and Ceremonial
Rise of Ecclesiastical Marriage: The Church Develops and Administers Matrimonial Law The Protestant Conception of Marriage
Rise of Civil Marriage
Volume 2:
History of Separation and Divorce under English and Ecclesiastical Law:
The Early Christian Doctrine and the Theory of the Canon Law The Protestant Doctrine of Divorce
Law and Theory during Three Centuries
Matrimonial Institutions in the United States:
Obligatory Civil Marriage in the New England Colonies
Ecclesiastical Rites and the Rise of Civil Marriage in the Southern Colonies
Optional Civil or Ecclesiastical Marriage in the Middle Colonies
Divorce in the American Colonies
A Century and a Quarter of Marriage Legislation in the United States, 1776–1903
Volume 3:
A Century and a Quarter of Divorce Legislation in the United States:
The New England States
The Southern and Southwestern States
The Middle and the Western States
Problems of Marriage and the Family:
The Function of Legislation
The Function of Education…
