On this episode of Our American Stories, in the nineteenth century, a woman’s future could collapse overnight. If a husband died, disappeared, or fell into debt, she often had no legal claim to the house she lived in. The homestead law changed that.

As Professor Jean Stuntz explains, the law created a small but powerful shield that prevented families from losing the one thing they could not live without. It was far from perfect, yet for countless women who had no voice in court and few rights under most state laws, this protection meant stability and offered a kind of dignity that had rarely been within reach.

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