Document Type

Article

Publication Date

January 2022

Keywords

legal history, women's rights, property, unmarried women, homesteading, western history

Disciplines

Family Law | Law | Law and Gender | Legal History | Legislation | Property Law and Real Estate

Abstract

When Congress passed the Homestead Act of 1862, it decided to distribute land to single, unmarried women. Most Congressional members who supported including unmarried women did so because women were a necessary part of empire building—women were expected to marry, bear children, and engage in building permanent communities. Few Congressional members cared about women’s equality or the progressive goals of the women’s rights movements, although some Congressional members thought women would be incapable of successfully homesteading. This Article presents the fascinating history of including unmarried women in the Homestead Act of 1862 by conducting an intensive study of the Act’s statutory history, beginning in 1843. Building on the work of historians, this Article analyzes how the lived experiences of female homesteaders matched up with the expectations of the Congressional members who included them, on such topics as women’s willingness and ability to homestead, women’s equality, and women’s role in marriage and reproduction. Throughout, this Article explores how this statutory history can influence our understanding of antebellum unmarried women’s rights.

Publication Title

67 Wayne Law Review 253

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