failed and that at least one of the partners has no desire to

continue the marital relationship. Divorce legally dissolves a

marriage, and permits the partners to remarry if they choose.

Divorce differs from an annulment, which declares a marriage

invalid because of some flaw in the contract.

The early American settlers brought with them three different

views on divorce: 1) the Roman Catholic view that marriage was

a sacrament and that there could be no divorce; 2) the English

view that divorce was a legislative matter; and 3) the

Protestant view that marriage and divorce were secular matters

to be handled by the civil authorities.

The Constitution of the United States did nothing to limit the

rights of the states to enact their own laws governing marriage

and divorce. Despite several efforts to amend the Constitution,

to allow Congress to pass federal legislation on divorce, to

this day the states retain separate laws. Because divorce laws

vary from state to state, the "migratory divorce" developed:

couples would move temporarily to a state where divorce was

easier to obtain than at home. For example

the search for a guilty party. In 1969, California permitted

In extreme cases, the parent losing a custody conflict, or upset

held fairly steady. In 1975 the rate was 4.9 per 1,000 people

likely to feel personally rejected, cheated in the economic

tendencies merged, making possible the establishment of new and

economic arrangement have emerged alongside the old. Some

Some topics in this essay:
Constitution United, Moreover Americans, United Divorce, Roman Catholic, divorce rate, 1000 population, marriage divorce, percent married, divorce rates, grounds divorce, crude divorce rate, percent married people, crude divorce, allowed divorce, divorces 1000 population, material possessions, divorces 1000,