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Sandra VanBurkleo (2001) writes that the Revolution had negative effects on women’s legal status as an enhanced domestic sovereignty became lodged in men.

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Why did the Revolution negatively affect women's legal status in relation to enhanced domestic sovereignty becoming lodged in men?

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The Revolution negatively affected women's legal status in relation to enhanced domestic sovereignty becoming lodged in men because it led to women being economically and legally dependent on men, and thus unable to possess the autonomy and republican virtue required for citizenship. This resulted in an idealization of the family and an increase in legal toleration of wife-beating, as well as post-Revolutionary laws enshrining the privileges of white able-bodied men and allowing them to solidify their property rights in women, slaves, and children.