The Naked Quaker (by Chelsea Wee)

Background

The book focuses on court cases from Puritan New England during the 17^th century, highlighting 25 true colonial courtroom cases. In that era, court day was a major event and it was common for disputes and other problems to be resolved by colonial judges. It was not uncommon for cases to be dealing with business transactions, slander, unruly conduct and even cases based on certain behavior that would never be prosecuted in today’s courtroom. There were no official courthouses, so it was often that a tavern was turned into a temporary courthouse. Court hearings were opportunities for people of all walks of life to mingle – from farmers, to sailors, to servants, to Indians and to wealthy gentlemen as well. Author Diane Rapaport is a former trial lawyer who now researches and writes about stories from early New England court records. In the book, she sheds light on her research process, sourcing out stories from old colonial case files which survive in the forms of “ink-splotched scraps of brittle paper in archives, reels of microfilm, published volumes, CD-ROMs and online archival Web sites”. The book is an extension of her column, “Tales from the Courthouse” for New England Ancestors magazine.

Overview

The purpose of the book is to present historically accurate information on the judiciary system of 17^th century New England. The author makes the book accessible to a wider audience by presenting the information through a series of short stories. The book is divided into 10 chapters, with each chapter focusing on a particular aspect of law. The chapter “Witches and Wild Women” brought to attention that the Salem trials of 1962 were actually not the first witchcraft cases in colonial New England and that there were other alleged witches who were also on trial, even during the earliest puritan days. In general, most women who were outspoken and unmarried were held with much suspicion and disproval. The author writes about two such women in two separate stories and how the court had treated them. The chapter “Coupling” deals with issues brought about by sex, like premarital dalliance, adultery and other displays of love and lust. The chapter entitled
“Parents and Youth” describes cases dealing with youth, such as juvenile delinquency, rebellion and rowdy behavior. “Tavern Tales” demonstrates the effect of alcohol and taverns on obeying the law. The book also has a chapter dealing with squabbles between neighbors. Religion also often results in litigation, as seen by the 2 stories in which she describes conflicts regarding the church. Frontier missions by the people of that era also had their fair share of trials and cases that reflected the nature of the people in that society. She dedicates a section on maritime law, showing how overseas trade and setting up new colonies brought along a new dimension to court cases. The author concludes the book with a section on the lawyers, judges and judiciary system of that era.

Reflections

I enjoyed reading the book and found the author’s style to be engaging and reader-friendly. It was evident in the book that the author is passionate about the topic through her tone and the way she crafted her stories. The author did not let her casual, storytelling style affect her credibility. She included pictures of the original sources and also included an extensive bibliography and explanations of sources, detailing where she found the information for each story she writes about. The book highlights the importance of establishing a judiciary system within a society. A judiciary system helps to maintain order, set up a sense of accountability amongst the people, establish a set of rules for the people to adhere to, enforce control and to bring justice to the wronged. However, the book also shows the limitations of judiciary system, such as the concept of jurisdiction or the implementation of law and punishment. The book provides a stark comparison between lawyers and judges of that era and the lawyers and judges we have today. It also gives an insight on how these professions came about. It is interesting to note that professions considered “prestigious” by today’s standards have humble origins, beginning with people like sailors and farmers defending their rights. The book demonstrates that although the societies of then and now are vastly different, they are based on similar fundamentals and still face similar problems. The types of cases are still somewhat similar – assault, family, criminal, business, religion, maritime and so on. This shows that human nature has been unaffected by social changes and that humans still have the same needs and motivations and will most likely remain the same in the generations to come. The book demonstrates the importance of keeping careful records for historical value, as they would be useful in the study of societies and passing down knowledge to future generations. Overall, I have enjoyed her story-telling approach to history and this book has definitely sparked an interest in the society of 17^th century colonial New England.