In the first record of a legal divorce in the American colonies, Anne Clarke of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was granted a divorce from her absent and adulterous husband, Denis Clarke, by the Quarter Court of Boston, Massachusetts. In a signed and sealed affidavit presented to John Winthrop Jr., the son of the colony’s founder, Denis Clarke admitted to abandoning his wife, with whom he had two children, for another woman, with whom he had another two children. He also stated his refusal to return to his original wife, thus giving the Puritan court no option but to punish Clarke and grant a divorce to his wife, Anne. The Quarter Court’s final decision read: “Anne Clarke, being deserted by Denis Clarke her husband, and he refusing to accompany with her, she is granted to be divorced.” In 2023, there were 673,989 divorces granted in the United States. A third of adults in the United States believe divorce should never be permitted. The country with the highest annual divorce rate is the Maldives, with 5 divorces per 1,000 people in 2023.
The First Divorce In the American Colonies
In the first record of a legal divorce in the American colonies, Anne Clarke of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was granted a divorce from her absent and adulterous husband, Denis Clarke, by the Quarter Court of Boston, Massachusetts. In a signed and sealed affidavit presented to John Winthrop Jr., the son of the colony’s founder, Denis Clarke admitted to abandoning his wife, with whom he had two children, for another woman, with whom he had another two children. He also stated his refusal to return to his original wife, thus giving the Puritan court no option but to punish Clarke and grant a divorce to his wife, Anne. The Quarter Court’s final decision read: “Anne Clarke, being deserted by Denis Clarke her husband, and he refusing to accompany with her, she is granted to be divorced.” In 2023, there were 673,989 divorces granted in the United States. A third of adults in the United States believe divorce should never be permitted. The country with the highest annual divorce rate is the Maldives, with 5 divorces per 1,000 people in 2023.