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  Dayton’s chapter on the legal system in colonial New Haven chronicles the evolution of its structure, with a particular focus on gender and social standing. The Puritan ethos of its leaders, Theophilus Eaton and John Davenport, led them to establish a colony without a charter from the crown, envisioning a society that would answer to a higher, scriptural authority. The importance the Puritan religion placed on identifying and punishing sin, combined with English Common Law tradition, created a dynamic legal system that had consequences for women's legal standing. This puritanical obsession with allowing no sin to go unpunished had the unintended effect of liberating women in the Puritan’s scripturally based divorce laws. Dayton presents an economic and social history of New Haven that helps explain the unique circumstances that influenced the evolution of legal proceedings in the colony, and the influence that a growing commercial and industrial sector contributed to a move toward English Common Law and the more secular society that exists today.  

  This chapter reminded me how deeply ingrained the idea of male superiority is and why it continues to exist, even in our ‘enlightened’ times. The legal concept of coverture, where a woman gave up her legal standing upon marriage, persisted for a long time. I am reminded that the concept of white privilege really began as white, male privilege. It was not that long ago that a woman needed her husband’s signature to get credit. Beyond the gender and legal themes, I learned a good amount of New Haven history that I had been unaware of. I was surprised to learn of the deep Puritan roots of the colony and county. Being familiar with the name Davenport, I did not know its significance. I guess the change to a more secular society has been so complete that I do not associate New Haven’s history with Puritanism the way I do with other New England towns like Boston, or Salem, Massachusetts. The Puritans strike me as a glum lot, and reading about them makes me grateful for the establishment clause in the first amendment of our constitution! 

 

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