Summary Of Marriage In Antebellum America

Marriage in Antebellum America Marriage is described as the sacred bondage of two beings and has always stood as a representation of fidelity from one spouse to the other. In Antebellum America it was a very important part of young people starting adulthood. Men and women engaged in courting before marriage to find the best option for themselves in a marriage. It gave women the freedom to explore that, after marriage, would be gone forever, and it gave men an opportunity to meet eligible women to make their wives. Courting relieved the parents from the process of choosing the paramore of their child, however they still obtained their opinions. Men tended to begin courtship in their late-teens, to marry after they had finished schooling

Courters tended to look for people around their social class to spend the rest of their lives with. After chosen for marriage, dowries consisted of household goods and any land or property that could have been spared, including slaves. Ordinarily, ministers posted banns on both churches, or one, to signify the validity of the marriage and announce it. Sending out verbal invitations, the family married at the easiest convenience, rarely at churches, to represent the joining of the two families. The ceremonies consisted of vowels, the handing off of the bride, and began with a procession taking the party to the bride’s parent’s house in order for the new couple’s celebration (Maurer). Slave marriage was often officiated by the master, or done in secret if prohibited. The saying of jumping the broom originates from slave marriage. The question of marriage appeared once possible spouses found

In a plantation, a woman was less likely to be involved in the actual work, and on most plantations, especially in the South where plantations were most common, slaves did the work while an overseer instructed them. In the early 19th century men did heavy labor, and were seen as strong, capable people, and women typically did food and clothing preparation. This began to shift once industry became popularized and women were moved into more domestic responsibilities such as watching after children and maintaining the household while the man was away. During this time however, people began to question the equality between men and women, and this led to different opinions on what types of jobs women should have (O’Malley). Opinions on women’s stance in society and women’s status tended to fluctuate in the 19th century based off of what people thought, and what women were going