"An Act against Adultery and Polygamy"

Identifier: Lowe II
Title: "An Act against Adultery and Polygamy"
Description: This passage is an act banning both polygamy and adultery in New England by the General Court or Assembly of His Majesties Province of New-Hampshire in New-England. Early colonial New England was a thoroughly puritan place and naturally it was a very strict and disciplined society. This act states, "Be it therefore enacted by the Lieutenant Governor, Council and Representatives, convened in General Assembly, and by the Authority of the Same, That if any Man be found in Bed with another Mans Wife, the Man and Woman so offending, being thereof Convicted, shall be severely Whipped." Most colonies followed English law based on precedent but the passage of a strict law against polygamy and adultery shows how much more involved New Englanders were in each other's personal lives than they were back in their home country of England.- Henry
Creator: B. Green
Date Created: 1716
Publisher: Eleazar Ruffel
Bibliographic Citation: Acts and Laws, Passed by the General Court or Assembly of His Majesties Province of New-Hampshire in New-England. Boston in New England: Printed by B. Green, 1716.