What Are The Rights Of Women In The 19th Century

Women in the 19th century lacked many of the freedoms and liberties they have today. In England, these shortcomings were especially prevalent. Women during this time lacked even the most basic liberties. In 1851, there were only three people who were unable to hold property and maintain their own individuality. These three people included the mentally ill, felons, and married women. Married women stand out among this list as even unmarried women had more rights. Apart from these basic rights married women were also unable to hold land. English common law, applying to property, set clear restrictions in regards to women’s rights. These laws allowed only eldest sons to inherit land. If all children were female the land was to be equally divided among them; however, reforms made this nearly impossible. Unmarried women during this time did have more rights than their married equals. They were able to hold property, run a business, be sued for damages, and were treated as an individual. These two groups of women did have several things in common. Among these were the inability to vote and limited occupational freedom. …show more content…
Both Pankhurst and Mill/Taylor challenged the women’s role in politics. Pankhurst asserted that suffrage and the right to a profession were among the basic human rights. She advocates heavily for a universal suffrage that included women, as it often did not. Pankhurst asserts that “either women are to be killed or women are to have the vote.” Her views on suffrage directly challenged the political status quo of the time due to the fact that women did not have the right to vote. Since they lacked this right they were very easily deterred from having any participation in government or