Before the women’s rights movement women were treated unequally and were not afforded the same rights as men concerning property ownership. In the late 1700s it was the religious and civil right activists which sparked the ideals of common ownership and equal rights. Men had the majority of control of any estates and properties even after their death. During this time men would get full control of his wife’s property if she died but the wife would get only a third if her husband died. It was the woman’s rights movement which impacted women’s ownership of property by creating a pragmatic program of reform during the 1840s. This gave woman more legal rights concerning property allowing them to own and manage their own separate property from
