Coverture

Coverture is a legal principle that dates back to the Middle Ages. It came from a French term that means “covered.” The law of coverture was imported to the North American colonies by the English colonists. 

Under coverture, a married woman was “covered” by her husband’s legal identity and did not exist as an individual in the eyes of the law. This meant that married women could not make  wills or own property. They had no rights to wages they earned, and lost control of anything they owned before marriage. Coverture also meant that husbands had control over their wives’ bodies and over their families. If a husband chose to send his child away as an apprentice, his wife had no say in the matter. Even so, marriage was the norm in the English colonies. Most young women married, and most widows remarried. 

Coverture also affected unmarried women. Before marriage women were considered “covered” by their fathers. Widows might struggle to conduct business or protect their homes without a man to represent them in the public sphere. 

Beyond its impact on women’s legal rights, coverture reinforced stereotypes about women and left few ways for women to disprove them. Common law developed because men believed that women were naturally dependent, delicate, and dim-witted. These attitudes, in turn, impacted women’s upbringing. Most girls received little or no education and most women lacked the preparation and therefore the confidence to pursue a life outside of the bounds of marriage. And so men continued to believe that women required the legal oversight of men.

The legal force of coverture has been diminished over time, but remnants of it are part of the legal code even today.

This excerpt was written by William Blackstone, an English judge and scholar. It comes from Commentaries on the Laws of England, which he published in the 1760s. This was the first time any person attempted to collect and publish a complete record of the common law of England. Common law evolved based on court decisions and customs slowly over time. This means that William did not create the legal ideal of coverture. But by writing it down, he made it formal and concrete in a way that it had never been before.

• common law: A legal code developed from judicial decisions, customs, and precedents that were unwritten in statute or code.
• Middle Ages: An era in Europe that lasted from approximately 450-1450 CE.
• widow: A woman whose husband has died.

• APUSH Connections:
  • 2.2: European Colonization
  • 4.2: The Rise of Political Parties and the Era of Jefferson
• Pair this resource with The Last Will and Testament of Joseph Grover and ask your students to consider how the practice of coverture (1) fits in with the will, and (2) limits the prospects of Joseph’s wife and daughters.
• Pair this resource with Women Without a Country to discuss how the principles of coverture are reflected in the 1907 Expatriation Act.

AMERICAN IDENTITY AND CITIZENSHIP; DOMESTICITY AND FAMILY

• For more resources relating to the English colonies, see New World – New Netherland – New York.
• For resources about coverture’s legacy in the early republic, see Saving Washington: The New Republic and Early Reformers.