Hedging was a legal doctrine that prevented married women from owning property, with any property becoming the husband’s after marriage. This changed in the late 19th century with property rights reform. The term “coverture” comes from French and refers to a married woman being seen as an extension of her husband. Unmarried women had more rights, including the ability to own property and sign contracts. Married women had limited rights, including receiving one-third of their husband’s estate upon death.
Historically, hedging was a legal doctrine dealing with women’s property rights after marriage. Under the cover doctrine, married women were not entitled to own any kind of property. Instead, any property owned or inherited by a single woman became the property of her husband after marriage.
As a practice, hedging became popular in England during the Middle Ages and spread to the various English colonies. Coverage remained the legal standard until the late nineteenth century, when women’s rights activists pushed for property rights reform. Among the reform measures achieved during this period was the implementation of private examinations, in which a married woman selling her property was asked to appear before a court to verify that her husband was not pressuring her for a sale against his will.
The etymology of coverture has its origins in French. English common law dictated that a single woman was to be known as a feme sole, which was a rough translation of the French femme seule, or single woman. After marriage, a woman came to be known as a feme covert, from the French femme couverte, which literally meant “covered woman.”
A sole woman was permitted to hold private property and make her own decisions regarding any property she owned. She could also inherit property in her own name and sign contracts. This enabled a single woman to get a job, earn a salary, and keep that salary as her own.
Conversely, a secretive woman, under the cover laws, was not seen as a separate person from her husband, making any property owned by one of them owned by both. Married women had to get permission from their husbands before signing any documents, including employment contracts. Women who were granted permission to work often received their wages directly from their husbands.
However, women held some limited rights under the law. In the United States, a married woman was entitled to receive one-third of her husband’s estate upon her death, which was called her “dowry.” This law made it impossible for a husband to sell any of his personal property without his wife’s consent. If a husband made a sale without the proper signatures, a wife could declare it an illegal sale after her death and return her property.
The coverage also had other legal implications for women. Since women were legally regarded as little more than extensions of their husbands, they could not testify for or against them. Furthermore, if a married woman was found breaking the law, she bore little or no personal responsibility, as it was usually assumed that she was following her husband’s orders. Any repairs were assigned to him on her behalf.
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