The Dreadful Word
Speech Crime and Polite Gentlemen in Massachusetts, 1690–1776

A fascinating study of how elite white men in eighteenth-century Massachusetts incorporated the ethos of politeness into the law of criminal speech.

Kristin A. Olbertson (Author)

9781009102865, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 8 August 2024

338 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.549 kg

'Olbertson has taken what at first glance likely appeared to be little more than a dusty collection of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century legal records and transformed them into an engaging study of the lengths to which status-seeking colonists in Massachusetts used the court system to institute a social order based not on godliness but on gentility, and one that placed themselves in a position of authority. Her work deserves praise not only because it reveals important social dynamics in colonial America and their relationship with the larger British Empire but also because it is so concisely written and is such an excellent trove of colonial American and legal literature that it would not appear out of place on the bookshelf of either an undergraduate student or a professional historian.' Stephanie Jannenga, H-Net

This book, the first comprehensive study of criminal speech in eighteenth-century New England, traces how the criminalization, prosecution, and punishment of speech offenses in Massachusetts helped to establish and legitimate a social and cultural regime of politeness. Analyzing provincial statutes and hundreds of criminal prosecutions, Kristin A. Olbertson argues that colonists transformed their understanding of speech offenses, from fundamentally ungodly to primarily impolite. As white male gentility emerged as the pre-eminent model of authority, records of criminal prosecution and punishment show a distinct cadre of politely pious men defining themselves largely in contrast to the vulgar, the impious, and the unmanly. “Law,” as manifested in statutes as well as in local courts and communities, promoted and legitimized a particular, polite vision of the king's peace and helped effectuate the British Empire. In this unique and fascinating work, Olbertson reveals how ordinary people interacted with and shaped legal institutions.

1. Introduction
2. A politer peace
3. Sensibility
4. Civility
5. Credibility
6. Cacophony
7. Respectability
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Legal history [LAZ], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], History of the Americas [HBJK]