SELFISH INTENTIONS - K-REx - Kansas State University

absolute divorce. Virginia now recognized the following grounds: “adultery, impotency,
confinement in a penitentiary, conviction of an infamous offense prior to marriage, willful
desertion for five years, pregnancy of the wife at the time of the marriage by a person other than
the husband, and a wife working as a prostitute prior to the marriage without the knowledge of
the husband.” 39 Maryland followed a similar pattern. The number of divorce cases presented to
the legislature in Maryland were similar in number to the cases presented to the Virginia
legislature; therefore, in 1842, the legislature passed jurisdiction for divorce to the chancery
courts. Additionally, the Maryland legislature amended their state constitution in 1851 to
prohibit legislative divorces.
The transition from petitioning for divorces from the legislature to the judicial court
system occurred gradually, but in the end women benefited from this change because it
dramatically affected the ability of women to get a divorce. It was difficult for women to gain a
legislative divorce, because such divorces were expensive and hard for a woman living in a state
of coverture to obtain. Women would usually have to secure the help of a male sponsor such as
a close male relative to help them through the process of a legislative divorce. A situation such
as this would most likely occur in the propertied middle to upper classes and the primary aim
would be to secure an advantageous property settlement. The risks were considerable. Even so,
women in Virginia petitioned for divorce in larger numbers than men did. Riley found that
between 1802 and 1850 the Virginia legislature granted 135 divorces, fifty-one percent (69
divorces) of those divorces went to women while forty-nine percent (66 divorces) were granted
to men. 40 Women who were granted an absolute divorce from the legislature returned to feme
sole status and were guaranteed a measure of financial independence from their ex-husband. If a
39 Ibid., 67.
40 Ibid., 60-61.
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