Cultural coverture: an examination of the impact of early American marriage laws on contemporary American women

Under the system of coverture a married woman's civil identity was covered by her husband's civil identity and she was viewed to be civilly dead. The system of coverture originated in Europe and was part of the English Common Law system. When settlers first colonized what would eventually become the United States, they adopted English Common Law and with it the system of coverture. Through the system of coverture, married women in the United States had no independent civil identity and they were excluded from the rights and obligations of citizenship. For over two hundred years, activists worked to challenge and change the system of coverture and the cultural attitudes and assumptions that were reflected through coverture. Though legal coverture ended in the closing decades of the twentieth century, the cultural attitudes and assumptions on which coverture was based are still impacting women and limiting their full freedom and agency. This thesis examines the historical foundations of marriage laws/coverture in Colonial America and traces their progression from laws to the cultural practices that women in contemporary America must navigate and negotiate in their lives.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Alabama Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Steib, Summer Allison

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Pierman, Carol J.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Johnson, Ida M.
• Johnson, Rhoda E.

• Women's studies

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US, English

Dc Identifier Other

u0015_0000001_0000078
Steib_alatus_0004M_10110

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ir.ua.edu:123456789/585