Gender Equality Timeline
Women’s Rights Milestones in the United States
1769 — The colonies adopt the English system decreeing that women cannot own property in their own name or keep their own earnings. 1777 — The original 13 States pass laws prohibiting women from voting. 1839 — Mississippi becomes the first State to grant women the right to hold property in their own names, but only with permission from their husbands. 1848 — At Seneca Falls, New York, 300 women and men sign the Declaration of Sentiments, a plea for the end of discrimination against women. 1866 — Congress passes the Fourteenth Amendment, in which “citizens” and “voters” are defined…
