Anne Orthwoods Bastard Essay Example

were able to mold the law to their own self-interests.

Pagan is most concerned with the manipulation of legalities and the rapid legal modifications made by empowered colonists. Indenture contracts, for instance, became extremely flexible to local interests. Anne Orthwood's indenture was sold three times in two years, each time without her consent as would have been necessary in England. Justices simultaneously stripped servants of their rights and allowed greater protection to the purchasers of their contracts. Caveat Venditor” was used in colonial society in order to ban sellers from passing off unhealthy or, in the Orthwood case, pregnant, servants to unsuspecting masters. Empowered colonist also modified paternity proceedings. Pagan argues that, Justices did so because the financial burdens to fathers were comparatively light. In England, fathers had to pay payments to indenture their offspring; in Virginia indentures were easily obtained with minimal payments and freed fathers from the future obligations of child support.

In the Orthwood case justices instantly accepted Anne's oath that John Kendall had fathered her children. However, after Anne's death, Kendall filed a petition that denied paternity. The justices were persuaded and ruled in favor of Kendall, but they did not alter their earlier verdict that obligated Kendall to remain legally responsible for the support of the infant Jasper, whom he quickly indentured. In paternity proceedings, the presumed truth of a woman's word was, largely, unquestionable, but a man with powerful allies, like John Kendall, could maneuver to escape full responsibility.

Initially, I was shocked to discover that these modifications and maneuvers in no way amended the penalties endured by mothers who were burdened with penance, extra service, fines, or corporal punishment. I suppose

that in a world where a women has no voice or equality among men, this discovery would be rather less shocking. Anne Orthwood's Bastard often resembles a claim where VIPs played out their interests through their grip on local legal culture; however Pagan demonstrates that the law could also work against the powerful.

In the aftermath, the justices had stricken John Kendall with a fornication suit, although they later dismissed it. Jasper Orthwood successfully sued for his freedom at the age of twenty-one, rather than waiting to reach the customary age of twenty-four, and thereby set a legal standard for similar emancipations in the future. In these ways, Pagan's thorough research and compelling narrative engages readers in the legal world of the Eastern Shore and provides them with a lesson in the harsh realities of law in early America.