Over the Threshold

This original collection challenges commonly-held assumptions about the 'recent increase' in domestic violence in the United States, revealing widespread patterns of abuse across two centuries of American history. Over the Threshold is the first in-depth work to explore the topic of intimate violence in the American colonies and the early Republic. The essays examine domestic violence in both urban and frontier environments, between husbands and wives, parents and children, and masters and slaves. This compelling collection puts commonly held notions about intimate violence under strict historical scrutiny, often producing surprising results.