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OverviewLong before American women had the right to vote, states dramatically transformed their status as economic citizens. In the early nineteenth century, a married woman had hardly any legal existence apart from her husband. By the twentieth, state-level statutes, constitutional provisions, and court rulings had granted married women a host of protections relating to ownership and control of property. Why did powerful men extend these rights during a period when women had so little political sway? In Her Own Name explores the origins and consequences of laws guaranteeing married women's property rights, focusing on the people and institutions that shaped them. Sara Chatfield demonstrates that the motives of male elites included personal interests, benefits to the larger economy, and bolstering state power. She shows that married women's property rights could serve varied political goals across regions and eras, from temperance to debt relief to settlement of the West. State legislatures, constitutional conventions, and courts expanded these rights incrementally, and laws spread across the country without national-level coordination. Chatfield emphasizes that the reform of married women's economic rights rested on exclusionary foundations, including protecting slavery and encouraging settler colonialism. Although some women benefited from property reforms, many others saw their rights stripped away by the same processes. Drawing on a mix of qualitative and quantitative evidence, In Her Own Name sheds new light on the place of women in the fitful democratization of the United States. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Sara ChatfieldPublisher: Columbia University Press Imprint: Columbia University Press ISBN: 9780231199674ISBN 10: 0231199678 Pages: 256 Publication Date: 30 May 2023 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In stock We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately. Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Life Under Coverture and How It Changed 2. Married Women’s Rights Reforms in American Political Development 3. Social Movements and State Power: Reform in State Legislatures 4. Constitutional Conventions as Key Reform Moments 5. Decentralized Reform and Policy Diffusion 6. Courts as Collaborators and Catalysts Conclusion Methods Appendix Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography IndexReviewsChatfield tells a fascinating story about the trajectory of married women's property reform. In doing so, she also contributes to a growing body of political science literature about the importance of understanding state-level political development. -- Julie Novkov, author of <i>American by Birth: Wong Kim Ark and the Battle for Citizenship</i> Sara Chatfield has brought to American women’s history a unique theoretical and empirical vantage point. Her innovative analysis of emulation and diffusion in constitutional reform sets a new standard in American political development and the politics of gender. -- Daniel Carpenter, author of <i>Democracy by Petition: Popular Politics in Transformation, 1790-1870</i> Chatfield’s In Her Own Name insightfully explains the process by which rights law can expand and contract based on state interests and illuminates and deepens our understanding of the development of women’s rights. In Her Own Name is important and welcome work. -- Priscilla Yamin, author of <i>American Marriage: A Political Institution</i> Chatfield tells a fascinating story about the trajectory of married women’s property reform. In doing so, she also contributes to a growing body of political science literature about the importance of understanding state-level political development. -- Julie Novkov, author of <i>American by Birth: Wong Kim Ark and the Battle for Citizenship</i> In Her Own Name is a compelling investigation of the development of married women's economic citizenship. Chatfield shows how male policy makers used property reform for married women to pursue an array of goals, including land conquest, slavery, temperance, and family needs—and how state-level institutions structured these pursuits. -- Jake Grumbach, author of <i>Laboratories against Democracy: How National Parties Transformed State Politics</i> Author InformationSara Chatfield is assistant professor of political science at the University of Denver. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |