17. The English common law principle of coverture subsumed the acts of the Founding Father’s wives to their husbands
Coverture, a feature of common law in British America and thus in the earliest days of the new nation, recognized husband and wife as a single person, with the wife subservient to the husband. Thus all property, actions, rights, and responsibilities of the wife were subsumed by the husband, who offered protection and support. Coverture included the individual activities of wives in social settings. A woman who presented ideas and opinions in a social setting was presumed to be presenting those of her husband, whether the latter publicly espoused them or not. Drawing rooms and dinners became areas where women exchanged their views, though they then became linked with husbands.
Women, such as Abigail Adams, spoke and wrote frankly of her opinions on virtually all subjects, which then frequently became known as the position of her husband, John. In 1776, several months before the Declaration of Independence, Abigail wrote of coverture, famously admonishing her husband to, “Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could”. Coverture masked many of the contributions of the Founding Mothers, as a matter of coverture they were instead the contributions of their husbands. The principle of coverture became one of the earliest targets during the drive for women’s rights and equality in the United States, which began just decades following the ratification of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.