Geography and the Marital Bond
A look at why Washington Territory's lax divorce laws are making it a destination for those seeking to leave their marriages behind.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
More than a quarter of a million divorces have been granted in this country within a score of years. The increase in population lags behind the increase in the number of cases in which the work of the altar has been undone. In Montana, if the husband willfully leaves without intending a return, the wife is entitled to sue for divorce. Equally absurd is the law of Washington, now framing its constitution as one of the states of the American Union; for, according to its statutes, a couple may dissolve their marital status, by exhibiting any cause deemed by the court sufficient, when satisfied that the parties can no longer live together. In other words, the court may, in the exercise of its sound discretion, put asunder what God has joined together. Westward the course of empire, westward also the pilgrims tired of their matrimonial obligations, in search of a convenient tribunal within which to throw off the conjugal yoke.
“The golden chain of matrimony in Montana, at the option of the parties, extends no further than the borders of her territory, and is literally governed by lines of latitude and longitude.”
In 1889, Washington was viewed as a 'frontier' for easy divorce, a stark contrast to the rigid legal frameworks of the East Coast. Today, the geography of family law has largely shifted from interstate migration to digital dissolution, yet the historical anxiety over 'easy' divorce remains a recurring theme in American civic debates.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.