The Massachusetts Bay Colony enacted the following law in 1646:
If a man have a stubborn or rebellious son of sufficient years and understanding (namely, at least sixteen years of age) which will not obey the voice of his Father, or the voice of his Mother, and that when they have chastened him will not harken unto them: then shall his Father and Mother being his natural parents, lay hold on him and bring him to the Magistrates assembled in Court and testify unto them, that their son is stubborn and rebellious and will not obey their voice and chastisement, but lives in sundry notorious crimes; such a son shall be put to death.
Connecticut adopted that same law in 1650. So did Rhode Island in 1668, and New Hampshire in 1679.
That law was known as the Stubborn Child Law. It remained on the statute books of Massachusetts for over three hundred years. The legislature eventually dropped the death penalty and broadened the law to include daughters. The law was not repealed until 1973.
