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To: SeekAndFind
Were we always treated fairly? Not entirely -- there was a time when we couldn’t vote. There was a time when women couldn’t own property.

That is all in the distant past. Move on.

12 posted on 06/18/2023 12:37:06 PM PDT by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized of man.)
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To: Rummyfan
Were we always treated fairly? Not entirely -- there was a time when we couldn’t vote. There was a time when women couldn’t own property.

The first statement is only partly true. Women were allowed to vote in some states after the American Revolution. Temporarily blocked in the 2nd half of the 19th century, but not for long in the grand scheme of things. Moreover, women had a lot more influence than you would think over their husbands' votes. The smart ones did it very subtly; the dumb ones tried bribery or shaming or the Lysistrata method.

The second statement is completely false. Women have always been able to own property at English (and American) common law as a "femme sole" - that is to say a single woman of legal age, or a widow. *Married* women ("femme couvert") could not own property separately from their husbands, because the husband by law was responsible for all their debts - so they could not incur debt without his permission. That was the original reason for legal separation - the husband put a notice in the paper that he had separated from his wife and was no longer responsible for her debts.

20 posted on 06/18/2023 6:17:52 PM PDT by AnAmericanMother (Ecce Crucem Domini, fugite partes adversae. Vicit Leo de Tribu Iuda, Radix David, Alleluia!)
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