Liberalism, nation building, and family regulation : the state and the use of family property law on Vancouver Island and in the United Colony province of British Columbia, 1862-1873
Date
1996
Authors
Clarkson, Christopher Allan
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Abstract
This thesis draws on the work of feminist, family and social reform historians, arguing that family regulation in 1860s and 1870s British Columbia developed in response to the perceived social ramifications of the developing capitalist market economy. The acquisitive individualism and concentration of wealth accompanying the market economy appeared to pose moral and economic dangers to society, threatening national demographic growth and the independent producing, property-owning class liberals believed necessary to the proper functioning of democracy. To rectify the situation legislators including Amor De Cosmos, John Robson, and Robert Beaven turned to the family. Through family protection measures (homestead exemption and married women's property laws) they attempted to mediate the competing demands of production and reproduction; and through modifications to inheritance and property laws they tried to effect a broader distribution of wealth and property in society. In the process, the patriarchal form of the family was altered, although the effect of the modifications was tempered by a continuing priorization of male rights and the liberal commitment to individual freedom of contract. The priorization of demographic concerns and their association with the family also led to an increased emphasis on the domestic responsibilities of women, which, in combination with the convergence of 'Woman's Rights ' and liberalist ideologies, led to increased property rights for married women, although these remained circumscribed by definitions of social role.