First Name:
Hanna
Last Name:
Fox
Major Department:
Department of Criminal Justice
Thesis Director:
Elicka Peterson-Sparks
Date of Thesis:
May 2015
In this thesis, the transformation of the legal status of women will be examined. Beginning with a discussion of the common law foundations and focusing especially on coverture, this paper will provide a history of how women’s place in society developed through legislation as they gradually evolved from being recognized as the property of their husbands to being sovereign individuals. This progression for women was slow, and remains incomplete. Despite progress, echoes of patriarchal oppression still exist in law today.