Coverture, the legal concept by which the place of married men and women in early nineteenth-century America was defined, held that when a man and a woman marry, they become ___.

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The legal concept of coverture held that upon marriage, a woman's legal and economic identity became subsumed by her husband, making them legally one person with the husband as the sole representative. This concept was reflected in the common law statement, "By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in the law: that is, the very being, or legal existence of the woman, is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband, under whose wing, protection, and cover, she performs everything."

Coverture, the Legal Concept by Which the Place of Married