Discussion

Marriage

in the United States

 Common law marriage was the

norm in most of the U.S in its

early history

 1870's: marriage reform

movement began (formal

ceremonies, licensing, and

registration)

 Beginning of 20th century:

marriage was regulated by the

states

Courtship in Early America

 1700-1800 casual unsupervised meetings were condemned

 After a couple formally introduced they were chaperoned

 Little emphasis on romantic attraction

At the Turn of the 20th Century Married Women

Could Not:

 Sue or be sued

 Seek employment without husband’s permission

 Husbands had undisputed control & custody over their children

 Women had no direct legal control over her children

Marriage and Law in the US

1830 – Right of married woman to own property in her own name in Mississippi

(instead of all property being owned exclusively by the husband)

1882 – Congress passed the Edmunds Act, which prohibited not just bigamy,

which remained a felony, but also bigamous cohabitation, which was

prosecuted as a misdemeanor. The law also allowed polygamists to be

held indefinitely without a trial

1890 – Mormons in Utah officially renounce polygamy

1900 – All states now grant married women the right to own property in their own

name

Marriage and Law in US

1907 – All women acquired their husband's nationality upon any marriage

occurring after that date

1933 – Married women granted right to citizenship independent of

their husbands

1965 – Supreme Court overturns laws prohibiting married couples

from using contraception

1967 – Supreme Court overturns laws prohibiting interracial couples

from marrying (Loving v. Virginia)

Virginians Mildred Jeter, an African

American, married Richard Loving, a

white man. After returning to Virginia the

Lovings were arrested for breaking the

state’s anti-miscegenation laws but told

the one-year prison sentence given to

them would be dropped if they left

Virginia and did not return as a couple

for 25 years. Lovings violated this

condition, returning to Virginia to visit

family. They were again arrested. Their

case made it to the Supreme Court

Cultural Redefinition of Marriage

Black & White

1967 U.S. Supreme Court case

Loving v. Virginia

 Laws against interracial

marriage were declared

unconstitutional

 Old Attitudes die hard

 1973 Richard Nixon (on

hidden microphone)

 “there are times when an

abortion is necessary. I

know that. When you

have a Black and White

or a rape”

Marriage and Law in US

1969 – The first no fault divorce law is adopted in California

• 1996 Ireland removed its constitutional ban on divorce and

remarriage (vote: 50.3% to 49.7%)

1972 – Supreme Court overturns laws prohibiting unmarried couples

from purchasing contraception

1975 – Married women allowed to have credit in their own name

1976 – Supreme Court overturns laws prohibiting abortions for

married women without the consent of the husband

1993 – All fifty states have revised laws to include marital rape

Marriage & Law in the US

2000 – Nebraska amends its state constitution to outlaw same-sex

marriage and polygamy, while Alabama became the last state

in the US to remove the ban on interracial marriage in its

state Constitution

2006 – 26 states outlaw same-sex marriage and polygamy through

their state Constitutions.

2009 – Iowa and Vermont grant and recognize same-sex marriages

2012 – North Carolina: vote to outlaw both same-sex marriage and polygamy,

bringing the total to 30 states that have outlawed both same-sex marriage

and polygamy through their state constitutions

2012 – Both Washington and Maine begins granting and recognizing same-sex

marriages. While Minnesota rejects a constitutional amendment banning both same-

sex marriage

2016 Oregon: Same-sex marriage law is effective on January 1

Do we still have a stereotype of a family: husband, wife, and children?

BUT only a small number of families fit this mold!

Single-parent families, same-sex parents, blended families, and childless

couples are far more common than most people think.