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The first sexually integrated jury hears cases in Albany, New York.

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Claude a philosopher wrote about the believes of woman being less then men. He said "all men and women have the same size brains and so the same
intellectual potential, and it was lack of educational opportunities that prevented women from
making progress."

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All states pass laws which take away women’s right to vote.

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In the 1800's most states excluded black women, both free and enslaved, from rape laws. Slave women frequently endured violent sexual abuse which often resulted in pregnancy and if a slave woman attempted to defend herself against such abuse, she would be severely beaten.

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The first state (Mississippi) grants women (disregarding women of color) the right to hold property in their own name, but only with their husbands permission. This was due to the Married Women's Property act.

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The first Woman's Rights Convention, Seneca Falls Convention, was held in New York to sign the Declaration of Sentiments, which sparked decades of activism and eventually led to the passage of the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote.

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Sojourner Truth, a former enslaved person who then became an abolitionist and women's rights activist, gave her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech at the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. Her speech states, “And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne 13 children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?”

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Celia, a 19-year-old enslaved Black woman killed the white man who owned her and was trying to rape her. Missouri law stated that a woman could use force when in “imminent danger of forced sexual intercourse,” but the judge ruled an enslaved woman had no right to refuse her “master.” Celia was convicted of murder, sentenced to death, and hanged on December 21, 1855.

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The first woman suffrage law in the U.S. is passed in Wyoming, giving women in that state the right to vote.

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The Anti-Suffrage Party is founded. Many people, including prominent women, such as Ellen Sherman, wife of General William Tecumseh Sherman, challenged the notion of suffrage as a “natural right,” and opposed its extension to women. In their view, women’s political participation threatened their important roles as wives, mothers, educators, and house up-keepers. They did not want women to be seen as equals.

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Women could now vote in only four states (Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah).

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Before this year, some states were passing laws that women could keep their own wages and to own property in their own name instead of their husband's. However it wasn't until 1900 that every state had passed this legislation.

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In the U.S., the answer to the question "When could women own property?" is, "Not until relatively recently." Here's why.

It's easy to forget that many of the rights women in the U.S. enjoy today are less than a century old. From suffrage to wage equality, legal protections we take for granted were hard-won, thanks to the efforts of activists and advocates throughout the 1900s.

The battle for women's property rights and ownership was one of the longest and most significant, stretching from the 1700s to the beginning of the 20th century. Until women were legally granted the right to own property, their husbands or another male relative had control over any property bequeathed or allotted to them. This lack of legal protection severely limited the financial autonomy of women.

Today, women enjoy full property ownership rights and represent a vital segment of the U.S. real estate market. Single women account for about 20 percent of annual home purchases and more single women own homes than single men.

Subsequent legal advances, including the right to apply for a home loan and take out a line of credit, have also made it easier for American women to celebrate the important milestone of homeownership and enjoy financial security and independence.

When Could Women Own Property?

By the beginning of the 20th century, most women could legally own property. However, women's property rights were slow to progress and scattershot through much of American history. It varied according to a woman's state of residence and race.

Women's property rights in the 1700s

During the Colonial period, most of the newly-formed American states followed British common law, which stipulated husbands had complete control of any property their wives brought into the marriage in a trust. This ban on female property ownership in 18th-century England is a major plot device in many Jane Austin novels. And popular TV shows like "Downton Abbey" and "Bridgerton" depicted daughters barred from inheriting their father's estate.

By the late 1700s, some states had begun to move towards granting women limited property rights. New York was among the first, passing an act in 1771 that gave women a voice in how husbands managed their joint assets.

The Act to Confirm Certain Ancient Conveyances and Directing the Manner of Proving Deeds to Be Recorded required the wife's signature on any deed to property she brought into the marriage in a trust before her husband could sell or otherwise transfer it. Significantly, it stipulated a judge must meet privately with the wife to confirm her approval was not coerced. Although women were still not allowed to own property independently, for the first time they had some say in how it was managed.

Soon after, Maryland and Massachusetts followed suit, expanding limited property rights laws to include women. In 1787, Massachusetts began allowing some married women to conduct business on their own, so wives of merchants or traders could continue running the family shop while their sea-faring husbands were absent.

Property rights for women of color

The limited advances of female property rights in the late 1700s and early 1800s only applied to women of European descent. Slavery was still practiced in the U.S. during this period, and enslaved women did not have property rights of any kind as they were legally considered property themselves.

Native American women were also excluded from the limited legal protections extended to white women until the mid-1800s, which coincided with emancipation and an expansion of property rights for Black men and women.

19th-century advances in women's property rights

By the beginning of the 19th century, property rights for women were starting to gain legal traction. Connecticut paved the way by recognizing the right of married women to execute wills and stipulate prenuptial and marriage agreements that allowed a man other than her husband to manage her assets. This law didn't grant women financial autonomy, but it did prevent husbands from having unfettered control over their wives' property.

With the passage of the Married Women's Property Act in 1848 and the Act Concerning the Rights and Liabilities of Husband and Wife in 1860, New York dramatically expanded the property rights of married women. Besides the right to independently conduct business, women could hold sole ownership of any inherited or allotted property, as well as file lawsuits independently.

These two laws became a model for other states to extend legal protection to women property owners over the following decades. By 1900, every state had given married women substantial control over their property.

Women's right to own property today

The right of women to own and manage property today is equal to that of men, but full financial autonomy didn't come about until late in the 20th century. It wasn't until the mid-1970s that a woman could access a line of credit independently without a man to cosign her application. It took another decade for the courts to rule that a husband doesn't have the right to unilaterally take out a second mortgage on property held jointly with his wife.

Despite legal protections for property rights, women still struggle against a real estate gender gap. Women spend an average of two percent more than men to purchase a home and get two percent less return on their investment when reselling, a significant obstacle to economic parity that has yet to be overcome.

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History of Women's Property Rights and Ownership

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In the U.S., the answer to the question "When could women own property?" is, "Not until relatively recently." Here's why. It's easy to forget that many of the rights women in the U.S. enjoy today are less than a century old.

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1910- Denied right for Wives to Prosecute Husbands

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1910- Denied right for Wives to Prosecute Husbands

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In 1910, the United States Supreme Court denied wives the right to prosecute their husbands for assault. This meaning, a husband could do anything he wanted to his wife, and the court would do absolutely nothing about it.

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Jeannette Rankin, who lived in Montana, was the first ever woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She was elected in November of 1940. She was an American politician and a women's rights activist.

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As Britain and other countries allowed women to vote, America passed the 19th amendment on August 26, 1920. The 19th amendment guarantees the right to vote for all women in America.

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As men went into World War ll, women took their places in what was known as "men's work". Between 1941 and 1945 the female labor force increased by more than six million, wages were increased, and women were doing jobs they never thought they'd do before.

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1972 - Equal Rights Amendment Passed by Congress

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1972 - Equal Rights Amendment Passed by Congress

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The Equal Rights Amendment which wanted legal equality for women and was banned discrimination on the basis of sex in 1923, was finally passed by Congress in 1972. However, it was sadly never ratified by enough states to become law at this time.

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The Roe v. Wade in 1973, was a decision that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled saying that the Constitution would protects a pregnant woman's right to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. Feminists celebrated this Supreme Court decision!

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The March for Women's Lives was held in Washington, D.C. in 2004. It was held to support the right to abortion, birth control, accurate sex education, and over all rights for women. Over 1 million people participated in this event.

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On January 21, 2017, the first full day of Trump’s presidency, hundreds of thousands of people joined the Women's March in Washington D.C.. This was a huge protest aimed at the new administration and at Trump because many statements of his were offensive to women as well as many different groups of people. The protests were all across the country, not just at the capital. That day, people stood up for women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, racial equality, reproductive rights, and so much more.

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2020- HRC Tracks Incidents Against Trans People

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2020- HRC Tracks Incidents Against Trans People

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In 2020, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) tracked a record number of violent fatal incidents against transgender and gender non-conforming people. Many of these people were trans women of color. A total of 44 fatalities were tracked, marking 2020 as the most violent year on record since the HRC began tracking these deaths in 2013. The fight for acceptance and rights is sadly still very relevant.

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These issues are still very relevant in day to day life. People still treat women, trans people, non-binary people, even men, and all other genders unfairly. We are all human, we should all treat each other as such. Educate yourself on new things, be respectful, and learn how you can better yourself to be accepting others. Educate yourself as well as others on how you may be sexist without even knowing, and change that. You have the power to change yourself and move others to change as well! Sadly, we have had to fight this battle and we still have to, but we have made so much progress and we will only continue to do so!