Consent of the Governed: Women’s Interactions with the Law
in 18th Century Tidewater Virginia
Abstract:
Women in eighteenth-century tidewater Virginia were deeply influenced by the legal and legislative actions taken at the county and colony levels. These women of varying social, economic, and racial backgrounds not only advocated for themselves, but they had an understanding of how to competently and confidently use this legal system in order to gain their desired outcome. However, the laws in Virginia were consistently upheld in favor of a gender-biased patriarchal system.