The Puritans on the other hand had a really strict marriage arrangements. It was more of a civil contract than a religious union. The couple had to be supervised together at all times by a parent. They were allowed to speak to each other through a long tube. The Puritans also had a strange practice of allowing the couple to sleep together in the same bedroom, but with a long board between them. This was called bundling. Before they were allowed to get married their marriage had to be pass by the leaders. After that they were allowed to have a small quiet wedding. The Puritans allowed people to get divorces if they wanted to.
African slaves on the other had a really simple marriage ceremony of jumping the broomstick.
For Quaker couples instead it was more difficult to get married, because they needed not only the permission of their parents but also the permission of the whole Quaker community.
They had to go through several steps before they could get married, but most women rejected the man at the last second. Due to this 16 percent of the women were single of the age of 50.
One of the restrictions on Quaker marriages were that could not marry your first cousin.
The Virginia marriages on the other hand allowed the first cousin marriages. The marriages were often made by the parents. For this reason not the love was required but the property of the man or the woman. 25 percent of males never married and if they did, they mostly were about 10 years older than the woman.
Marriages in the colonial age were a lot difficult than today.
- Yasmeen & Laura -
8 comments:
Wow, that is a lot of ways to get married. It's pretty interesting how the Quaker marriage is so strict but still funny how after all the challenges that a future groom may face, they can still be rejected in the last second- what a waste of time.
It's also interesting that the data you have of 16% of women were still single at 50. Because of the strict culture, they may not even be able to bear children after married!
The different kinds of strict courtships signify the importance of marriage in the colonial times. Comparing to present-day America, a consent from the whole community is unnecessary, unfeasible, and the courtship is much simpler and flexible. The number of different courtships is also amazing, as it represents the diversity of cultures in one colony.
I always believed that parents would make all the absolute decisions back then. I also did not know that a couple had to get conscent from leaders. This displays the strict rules in colonial times.
You guys made very interesting points. For example, I didn't know that the frontier people would steal their wives. They didn't actually "steal" them but the concept is still strange. Good job!
I learned a lot from this blog. I didnt know a couple needed leaders to say it was ok to get married. good job on this blog.
Great informative summary, contains lots of facts. Very interesting that Quakers required the consent from the entire community to get married, and wives were "stolen" on the frontier. Nice Job
very informational and descriptive, surprising details that got me hooked, very good blog
you have alot of information.there is a nice lay out. mayb adding some visuals would be nice. i really liked how you showed how each race,ethnic,culture was different.
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