Married Women In England, 1640-600
MARRIED WOMEN, CRIME, AND QUESTIONS OF LIABILITY IN
ENGLAND, 1640-1760
by
Marisha Christine Caswell
A thesis submitted to the Department of History
In conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Queen‟s University
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
February, 2012
Copyright ©Marisha Christine Caswell 2012
Abstract
Upon marriage, women in early modern England became subject to the common law doctrine of coverture. Coverture had a number of consequences, all of which stemmed from a married woman‟s lack of independent legal identity. These consequences largely manifested themselves in a married woman‟s complete lack of property rights, but the lack of an independent legal identity created complications for …show more content…
Perhaps the most influential development was the growth of what we now refer to as individualism.18 Under the new worldview, individuals – not the household – were the most important entities of social organization. The birth of the modern individual is connected with the rise of the modern state, the commercial revolution, the French and American Revolutions, as well as the eventual rise of liberalism, all of which affected women, who were eventually incorporated into larger understandings of political individualism.19 It is hard to avoid the charge
16
Wrightson, Earthly Necessities,
ENGLAND, 1640-1760
by
Marisha Christine Caswell
A thesis submitted to the Department of History
In conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Queen‟s University
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
February, 2012
Copyright ©Marisha Christine Caswell 2012
Abstract
Upon marriage, women in early modern England became subject to the common law doctrine of coverture. Coverture had a number of consequences, all of which stemmed from a married woman‟s lack of independent legal identity. These consequences largely manifested themselves in a married woman‟s complete lack of property rights, but the lack of an independent legal identity created complications for …show more content…
Perhaps the most influential development was the growth of what we now refer to as individualism.18 Under the new worldview, individuals – not the household – were the most important entities of social organization. The birth of the modern individual is connected with the rise of the modern state, the commercial revolution, the French and American Revolutions, as well as the eventual rise of liberalism, all of which affected women, who were eventually incorporated into larger understandings of political individualism.19 It is hard to avoid the charge
16
Wrightson, Earthly Necessities,