When Did Women Get the Right to Own Property?

The struggle for women to own property in the colonies, and later in the United States, was a long and arduous battle, and it took many years before women were granted this right. However, women were eventually and slowly granted full property rights.

In 1848, an important law was passed in New York. This law stated that if a woman were to marry, she does not lose her right to her property. This meant that the husband could not use the property to pay off his debts.

Only the woman—even if she is married—had the right to sell her property. If a woman chose to sell her property, she alone had control of the profits that she acquired from the property. Her husband did not have a right to the money that she received for the sale.

This law was passed partially due to the campaigning of Elizabeth Stanton, Paulina Davis, and Ernestine Rose for women’s property rights. Although the law began in New York, other states throughout the country soon copied the law. After a couple of decades, every state in the country had a version of the law.

Early Property Laws

The 1848 property rights law for women quickly reversed how the restrictive property laws of the colonists affected women.

Colonial Property Laws

When colonists first came over to the New World, they adapted the majority of the laws from England. In England, women did not have property rights. A woman’s father had the right to any and all property of his daughter. Then, when a woman got married, this right was transferred to her husband.

England was not the only country that did not allow women to own property. Other countries throughout Europe, such as France and Spain, had similar laws. When the colonists moved to the New World, however, they began to distance themselves from these laws and statues. Thus, the women’s property movement began as early as the seventeenth century.

Laws Demanding Women's Approval

The first property law that influenced women’s rights to own property was passed in 1674, in Maryland. The law stated that before a man was allowed to sell a woman’s belongings and property, the woman had to be interviewed by a judge beforehand. This was to ensure that the woman actually approved and wanted the sale to occur.

Then, in 1771, another law was passed, called the “Act to Confirm Certain Conveyances and Directing the Manner of Proving Deeds to Be Recorded.” This law stated that a man could not sell or transfer the ownership of his wife’s property without her signature on the document.

If a woman could prove that her husband forged the signature, the husband was subject to strict fines and possible imprisonment. The law further stated that the judge needed to speak with the women to ensure that she understood the document that she signed, and that she approved of the sale.

Laws About Wills and PreNups

In 1809, a law passed in Connecticut continued to improve upon the rights that women had regarding their property. The law stated that women were allowed to create and execute wills. This was the first law which acknowledged that women had a right to determine where their property went after they were deceased.

In the years after 1809, prenuptial agreements began to occur between couples. These prenuptial agreements were often an attempt to protect the property that the woman owned prior to the marriage. In 1839, a law was passed in Mississippi that allowed women to have control over slaves.

Many Steps to Full Property Rights

There were many developments and steps that occurred before women were granted full property rights. However, the perseverance of women like Elizabeth Stanton ensured that women today would have equal rights as men.