In the Restoration-era court case Manby v. Scott, England’s leading legal authorities used marriage and misogyny to bind political wounds. The case framed two centuries of Anglo-American legal debate over household authority and obligation, but subsequent generations masked its significance even as they reified its arguments. This essay situates Manby in its original context, using it to explore the place of marriage in seventeenth-century conflicts over political and religious authority, and to examine the contested relationship between the theory and practice of household government in both old and New England. In revised form, it will serve as the introductory chapter for my book, Wives not Slaves: Dependence, Authority and the Invention of the Modern Order.

All papers are pre-circulated electronically to those who plan to attend the seminar in person. For a copy of the paper,e-mail Jenny Butler at scholl@newberry.org,or call (312) 255-3524.

The Newberry Library Seminar in Early American History and Culture is co-sponsored by the History Departments of DePaul University, Northern Illinois University, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the Karla Scherer Center for the Study of American Culture at the University of Chicago