Primary Sources

) Commentaries on British Law by William Blackstone, England - 1765
William Blackstone, a classical theorist of the British common law, is often evoked to illustrate women's traditional legal status. He stated, "By marriage, the husband and the wife are one person in the law... the very being and legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated into that of her husband under whose wing (and) protection she performs everything."
2) “The Wife is Obliged,” Napoleonic Code, France - 1800-1820
Ideas of female equality received a setback in post revolutionary France in a series of laws known as the Napoleonic Code, or the French Civil Code. Within France, the Code survived basically unaltered for more than 150 years. As Napoleon carried the Code throughout Europe in his military campaigns, it served as a model for women’s marriage rights in countries from Italy to Poland.
3) Voices of Widows, Human Rights Watch Report, Kenya -2002
The personal accounts of widows from rural and urban areas who lack control over their matrimonial property because of customary practice are revealed in this substantive report conducted by Human Rights Watch. The effects on all society of their frequent and extreme abuse points to the need for change. Information on the historical context of the practices, and recommendations to the government to improve both the law and negative traditions are included.
Challenges and Changes:
4) Marriage Women’s Property Act, New York State - 1848
The British "merger of identities" doctrine law which retained women’s property under the control of their husbands, governed family affairs in the early years of the United States. Mississippi was the first English colony to challenge this, passing a Married Women's Property Act in 1839 (3/5 of which dealt with transfer of real property in slaves from father to daughter so plantations would not be divided amongst son-in-laws). New York in 1848 was one of the first states to grant women any rights in personal and real property. By 1900 every state had given married women substantial control over their property.
5) Ernestine Rose Speech at Women’s Rights Convention, Massachusetts - 1851
In 1851, at the second national convention for Women's Rights in New York, Ernestine Rose made a speech so impactful that it was later reprinted and circulated. Her dramatic call for “reason, Justice and humanity” detailed in sometimes humorous ways why the basis of marriage laws throughout the United States should be changed.
6) “A Brief Summary in Plain Language of the Most Important Laws Concerning Women:” Barbara Bodichon, England - 1854
In 1854 Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon wrote a brief pamphlet, A Brief Summary in Plain Language of the Most Important Laws of England Concerning Women, which clearly and concisely stated the facts of women's legal disabilities. The pamphlet created a sensation, rousing public interest in the question. Bodichon’s work, along with others, led to the 1870 British Married Women's Property Act which created a major change in nineteenth-century British property law.
7) A Marriage protest, United States - 1855
When Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell were married, they protested against women losing their legal existence upon marriage (coverture), and stated that they would not voluntarily comply with such laws. Their statement of dissent was read aloud at their wedding.
8) “Purchase Marriage is not Allowed,” Li Kei-ying, China - 1960
The Marriage Law of 1950 giving women full legal equality to men inside the family revolutionized women’s position. Opposition quickly occurred, particularly around the question of women’s equal rights to the land as part of the requirement for their emancipation. In 1960, Li Kei-ying, an official in her village People’s Commune, described her efforts to change the attitudes of one family.
9) Communal Property laws, Confusions and Adaptations, California - 2008
Hispanic tradition allowed women to maintain separate property in what are now the western states. Anglo-American fortiersmen kept this tradition which allowed married women to control and manage not only their own property but even that of their husbands. If women’s property rights were infringed, they could seek redress in the courts. Today, there are nine community property states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. In addition, Puerto Rico is a community property jurisdiction. Four comments on lawyers’ blogs in California reveal complications in today’s interpretations when divorce, which in the United States is mostly initiated by women, is contemplated.