Laws Concerning Women in 17th-Century Virginia
The legal status and rights of women in 17th-century Virginia were heavily influenced by English common law, the dominance of Anglicanism, and the socioeconomic structures arising from Virginia’s plantation economy. Women’s roles and freedoms were strictly limited, reflecting the patriarchal norms of English society, which placed women under male authority. However, specific laws related to land ownership, family life, business involvement, and moral behavior reveal the unique ways that colonial Virginia’s legal structure adapted to its developing society and economic demands. This examination focuses on the laws governing women’s rights in land ownership, business, behavior, and social expectations in Virginia’s early years.
Women and Land Ownership
In 17th-century Virginia, women’s rights to own land and property were restricted by the legal doctrine of coverture, which, following English common law, rendered a married woman’s legal identity subsumed under her husband’s. When a woman married, her property, income, and assets were legally transferred to her husband, meaning she had no legal control over land or other assets independently. As a result, married women (referred to as feme covert) were largely unable to own property, while single or widowed women (feme sole) had more control over land, provided they had no male guardian.
Virginia’s laws on property inheritance and dower rights gave widows some legal protections. Widows were entitled to a “dower” share, usually a third of their deceased husband’s estate, which they could manage independently during their lifetime. This provision aimed to ensure that widows were not left destitute after their husbands’ deaths. However, upon the widow’s death, the land typically reverted to male heirs. This system kept property within male-dominated family lines, securing the economic and social structure of the plantation economy while giving widows limited independence.
Women and Business Ownership
The ability of women to participate in business in Virginia was likewise constrained by coverture. Married women could not engage in business independently, as their economic activities were legally tied to their husbands. However, single and widowed women, who were not under a husband’s legal authority, had some opportunity to manage and operate businesses, though this was rare. Widows, especially those who inherited land or other assets from their husbands, sometimes managed plantations, inns, and small trade operations to sustain their families.
Virginia’s tobacco economy required labor, organization, and trade management, allowing widows who inherited plantations to assume business roles temporarily, often with assistance from male relatives. These women’s activities were still restricted within the bounds of Virginia’s patriarchal society; they managed their husband’s estates as caretakers for male heirs rather than as independent business owners. This dependency on male guardianship and familial networks underscores the limited agency women had in business and property matters.
Laws Governing Women’s Behavior
Anglican religious beliefs and Virginia’s commitment to maintaining a disciplined, patriarchal social order meant that the colony enforced strict moral laws, particularly targeting women’s sexual behavior. Adultery was treated as a severe crime, with women facing harsh legal and social repercussions. Under the 1662 Virginia law, women found guilty of adultery could face public shaming, fines, or corporal punishment. Adultery was seen not only as a personal failing but as a threat to family honor and social stability. Women bore the brunt of social stigma in these cases, as society viewed female purity as central to family respectability.
Additionally, fornication laws targeted women who engaged in premarital or extramarital relations. Unmarried women who became pregnant were often fined or whipped and sometimes required to publicly confess their sins. Virginia’s laws assumed that women’s behavior directly impacted family and social order, making their sexual conduct a matter of public concern. Men involved in such cases received lighter punishment or, in some cases, were not prosecuted, highlighting a double standard that placed greater responsibility on women to uphold moral standards.
Specific Laws and Social Norms
The inequalities between men and women in Virginia’s 17th-century legal structure reveal the broader cultural assumptions of the time. Although some laws technically applied to both men and women, enforcement and social consequences often differed, with women more harshly punished for offenses related to behavior and sexuality. Examples include:
Gender Inequalities in Legal and Social Consequences
While many of Virginia’s laws technically applied to both men and women, enforcement disproportionately targeted women, especially in cases of sexual behavior or slander. This disparity reflects a broader cultural belief in women’s moral vulnerability and the need to control their behavior to maintain social order. Women faced public shaming, corporal punishment, and long-lasting social stigma for offenses such as adultery or fornication, while men often rehabilitated their reputations more easily.
Property rights also illustrate gender inequalities. Although widows could manage their husband’s estates, they were expected to act as custodians for male heirs rather than as independent property owners. This system reinforced male authority over property, wealth, and family lineage, with women’s legal and economic roles largely subordinated to male relatives.
The intersection of law, religion, and gender in 17th-century Virginia reveals the colony’s patriarchal foundation, rooted in English common law and Anglican moral codes. By enforcing strict behavioral standards and limiting women’s legal and economic autonomy, Virginia’s legal structure aimed to uphold a social order that valued male authority and family stability above women’s rights or agency.
Bibliography
Books
Breen, T. H. Tobacco Culture: The Mentality of the Great Tidewater Planters on the Eve of Revolution. Princeton University Press, 2001.
Brown, Kathleen M. Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs: Gender, Race, and Power in Colonial Virginia. University of North Carolina Press, 2008.
Gundersen, Joan R. To Be Useful to the World: Women in Revolutionary America, 1740-1790. University of North Carolina Press, 2006.
Heyrman, Christine Leigh. Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt. University of North Carolina Press, 1998.
Isaac, Rhys. The Transformation of Virginia, 1740-1790. University of North Carolina Press, 1999.
Jones, Jacqueline. Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work, and the Family, from Slavery to the Present. Basic Books, 2010.
Klepp, Susan E. Revolutionary Conceptions: Women, Fertility, and Family Limitation in America, 1760-1820. University of North Carolina Press, 2009.
Norton, Mary Beth. Founding Mothers & Fathers: Gendered Power and the Forming of American Society. Knopf, 1996.
Pestana, Carla Gardina. The English Atlantic in an Age of Revolution, 1640-1661. Harvard University Press, 2004.
Sobel, Mechal. The World They Made Together: Black and White Values in Eighteenth-Century Virginia. Princeton University Press, 1987.
Articles
Brown, Kathleen M. "Gender and the Genesis of a Race and Class System in Virginia, 1630-1750." The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 54, no. 2, 1997, pp. 239-268. Brown explores how Virginia’s legal system contributed to a race- and gender-based class structure, focusing on laws that shaped women’s roles.
Heyrman, Christine Leigh. "The Episcopal Church and Women in the Southern Colonies." Journal of Religious History, vol. 24, no. 3, 2000, pp. 217-235. Heyrman examines the Anglican Church’s role in shaping women’s roles and moral expectations in Virginia.
Horn, James. "Adapting to a New World: English Society in the Seventeenth-Century Chesapeake." Colonial Williamsburg Journal, vol. 22, no. 3, 2000, pp. 32-55. Horn provides insights into how English social norms, including those concerning women, adapted to the Virginia colony.
Rutman, Darrett B., and Anita H. Rutman. "Women's Roles in the Southern Colonies." Journal of Southern History, vol. 50, no. 4, 1984, pp. 681-710. The authors discuss the evolving roles of women in Virginia, with an emphasis on how law and economy shaped their lives.
Salmon, Marylynn. "The Legal Status of Women in Early America: A Reappraisal." Law and History Review, vol. 1, no. 1, 1983, pp. 129-151. Salmon analyzes the limited legal rights of women in Virginia, including restrictions on property ownership and business participation.
Walsh, Lorena S. "Servitude and Opportunity in Colonial Virginia." Agricultural History, vol. 52, no. 2, 1978, pp. 335-350. Walsh examines how Virginia’s economic demands shaped labor and social roles, including women’s participation in plantation management.
Zacek, Natalie. "Voices and Silences: The Laboring Poor and the Anglican Church in Virginia, 1680-1776." Historical Journal, vol. 40, no. 3, 1997, pp. 639-667. Zacek studies the influence of Anglican values on women’s roles in labor and community life in Virginia.
