Laws Concerning Women in 17th-Century Massachusetts
The legal rights and societal roles of women in 17th-century Massachusetts were significantly shaped by Puritan religious values, English common law, and the community-oriented structure of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Founded as a religious refuge by Puritans, Massachusetts emphasized moral discipline and a collective social order, resulting in strict behavioral standards and limited rights for women. This examination focuses on laws governing land ownership, business, personal behavior, and social expectations for women, revealing the ways in which Puritanism and patriarchal norms constrained women’s autonomy.
Women and Land Ownership
In 17th-century Massachusetts, women’s ability to own and control land was constrained by the legal principle of coverture, a doctrine derived from English common law. Under coverture, a married woman’s legal identity was effectively absorbed by her husband’s, restricting her from independently owning property or making legal transactions. Married women, known as feme covert, had no control over land, income, or assets, which were considered her husband’s property. This limitation underscored the colony’s patriarchal foundation, as male authority over property was seen as crucial to maintaining family and social order.
Single women and widows (feme sole) enjoyed slightly more independence under Massachusetts law. Widows, for instance, were entitled to a “dower” share of their husband’s estate, usually one-third, allowing them to support themselves after their husband’s death. However, upon a widow’s death, her property reverted to male heirs. This dower system maintained the male-centered structure of inheritance and property control while providing minimal financial security to widows. The limitations on property rights restricted women’s economic power and ensured that wealth remained concentrated within male-dominated family lines.
Women and Business Ownership
The constraints on business ownership for women in Massachusetts were also rooted in coverture. Married women could not legally conduct business independently, as their economic activities were legally attributed to their husbands. Single and widowed women had some freedom to engage in trade and small business operations, particularly if they inherited property or were not under a male guardian’s authority. However, economic opportunities for women were limited, and most were confined to roles within the domestic sphere.
Some widows who inherited property, farms, or shops managed these assets to provide for their families, especially in the absence of male relatives. These women occasionally engaged in small-scale business, such as running inns, boarding houses, or shops. Although these activities allowed for a degree of financial agency, they were generally considered extensions of women’s domestic roles rather than examples of independent entrepreneurship. Women’s participation in business was tolerated as a means of survival rather than a legitimate exercise of autonomy, underscoring the colony’s resistance to women’s economic independence.
Laws Governing Women’s Behavior
The Puritan theocracy in Massachusetts enforced strict moral codes that aimed to uphold religious and social discipline, especially concerning women’s behavior. Adultery and fornication were treated as severe offenses, with punishments ranging from public shaming to corporal punishment and even execution in extreme cases. Adultery was considered a capital crime in Massachusetts, as evidenced by the 1641 Massachusetts Body of Liberties, which stated that both men and women found guilty of adultery could be put to death. However, women often bore a heavier social stigma than men in cases of sexual misconduct, as their behavior was seen as central to family and community honor.
Puritan authorities also enacted laws targeting women who engaged in premarital or extramarital relations, often referred to as fornication. Unmarried women who became pregnant were subject to fines, public whipping, or public confessions of their “sin.” Massachusetts laws also held women more accountable than men in cases of “bastardy,” where the mother of an illegitimate child was fined or sentenced to serve indenture to cover the costs associated with the child’s upbringing. These punishments underscored the moral responsibility placed on women to maintain sexual purity, while men involved in such cases often received lighter penalties or escaped punishment entirely.
Specific Laws and Social Norms
The inequalities between men and women in 17th-century Massachusetts are evident in the laws and cultural expectations surrounding behavior and speech. Although some laws applied to both sexes, enforcement and consequences were often stricter for women. Key examples include:
Gender Inequalities in Legal and Social Consequences
While some laws in Massachusetts technically applied to both men and women, enforcement patterns reveal that women were held to stricter standards of behavior and often faced harsher punishments. Women’s sexuality, speech, and social roles were more heavily policed, with moral expectations aligned closely to maintaining a patriarchal family structure and Puritan values. Adultery and fornication laws illustrate this disparity, with women facing public shame and lasting stigma for sexual misconduct, while men were more likely to be forgiven and reintegrated into the community.
Women’s restricted rights to property, business involvement, and legal autonomy reveal the extent of their subordination. Even as single or widowed women could manage property and business, their activities were framed as caretaking rather than acts of independence. Laws policing women’s speech and behavior reinforced the patriarchal order, preventing women from challenging male authority.
The legal and moral standards in 17th-century Massachusetts demonstrate the deep-rooted gender inequality embedded in Puritan society. With strict controls on women’s behavior, limited economic independence, and heavy moral scrutiny, the laws in Massachusetts reveal a society deeply committed to maintaining male authority and religious discipline. These restrictions were grounded in a worldview that saw women as morally weaker and in need of control to preserve the community’s religious and social order.
Bibliography
Books
Breen, T. H. Puritans and Adventurers: Change and Persistence in Early America. Oxford University Press, 1980.
Brown, Kathleen M. Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs: Gender, Race, and Power in Colonial Virginia. University of North Carolina Press, 2008.
Demos, John. Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England. Oxford University Press, 1982.
Hall, David D. Worlds of Wonder, Days of Judgment: Popular Religious Belief in Early New England. Harvard University Press, 1990.
Kamensky, Jane. Governing the Tongue: The Politics of Speech in Early New England. Oxford University Press, 1997.
Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England. W. W. Norton & Company, 1987.
Morgan, Edmund S. The Puritan Family: Religion and Domestic Relations in Seventeenth-Century New England. Harper & Row, 1944.
Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692. Vintage Books, 2003.
Reis, Elizabeth. Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England. Cornell University Press, 1997.
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750. Alfred A. Knopf, 1982.
Articles
Bremer, Francis J. "Puritan Law and the Enforcement of Moral Behavior in Early New England." New England Quarterly, vol. 58, no. 3, 1985, pp. 467-490. Bremer examines the strict moral codes enforced in Puritan Massachusetts, focusing on laws governing adultery, fornication, and modesty.
Dayton, Cornelia Hughes. "Taking the Trade: Abortion and Gender Relations in an Eighteenth-Century New England Village." William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 48, no. 1, 1991, pp. 19-49. Dayton explores women’s reproductive rights in colonial New England, noting how legal constraints reflected Puritan beliefs about women’s roles.
Demos, John. "Shame and Guilt in Early New England." American Historical Review, vol. 75, no. 5, 1970, pp. 1602-1634. Demos analyzes public shaming as a disciplinary tool in Puritan Massachusetts, with women often subject to more severe punishments than men.
Godbeer, Richard. "Sex and Gender in Colonial New England." Journal of American History, vol. 82, no. 2, 2002, pp. 445-470. Godbeer investigates gender expectations in colonial New England, emphasizing the legal and social constraints on women’s sexual behavior.
Haefeli, Evan, and Jon Butler. "The Changing Role of Women in New England Churches, 1630-1700." Journal of Religious History, vol. 24, no. 2, 1991, pp. 119-140. The authors explore how Puritan religious beliefs shaped women’s roles in churches, restricting their participation in public religious life.
Kamensky, Jane. "Governing the Tongue: Gossip, Slander, and Speech in Early New England." American Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 2, 1989, pp. 202-223. Kamensky examines the policing of women’s speech in Massachusetts, showing how laws targeted women’s speech as disruptive.
Karlsen, Carol F. "The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England." Signs, vol. 13, no. 2, 1987, pp. 260-282. Karlsen studies the gendered aspects of witchcraft accusations, with women disproportionately targeted for behaviors considered threatening to Puritan values.
Norton, Mary Beth. "Gender and Authority in Early New England." New England Quarterly, vol. 60, no. 3, 1987, pp. 493-511. Norton analyzes the perception of women’s inherent moral weakness in Puritan Massachusetts and its influence on legal constraints.
Plane, Ann Marie. "Indian Women and English Law in Colonial Massachusetts." Journal of American History, vol. 83, no. 2, 1998, pp. 365-392. Plane looks at the intersection of English law and Native women’s rights in Massachusetts, revealing how gender and race shaped legal treatment.
Reis, Elizabeth. "Puritan Beliefs about Women and Sin." Colonial History Quarterly, vol. 12, no. 4, 1997, pp. 393-415. Reis examines Puritan religious beliefs that informed the moral standards imposed on women’s behavior, especially in sexuality and family life.
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. "Public Women and the Rise of the Middle-Class Family in New England." William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 48, no. 1, 1991, pp. 42-68. Ulrich explores how family and social expectations limited women’s autonomy, focusing on the influence of Puritan morality.
