How Does Marriage Affect Early American Society?

Marriage in New England was a social affair, most believing in love before marriage. Love being the driving force behind marriage led to a stable community with high marital rates. On the other hand, in the Chesapeake region, economic gain was the driving force behind most marriage. Arranged marriages were expected, and targeted towards acquiring more land and power, love was never considered a factor. The cultures in New England and the Chesapeake area were quite different.

Marriage practices vary across cultures. Every culture has its own way of conducting marriage according to their traditions and customs. Most cultures share common customs and practices, while some cultures have unique practices. Marriage refers to a social union agreed upon by the couples to unit as spouses. The union of couples implies sexual relations, permanence in union, and procreation. This research paper focuses on comparing marriage practices in American and Indian culture. There is significant difference between the two cultures in marriage practices.

Colonial American citizens faced several challenges through the time span of the 16th century to the 18th century. It was a time of great change and growth as well as being full of obstacles. The Revolutionary War, hostile Native American tribes, harsh living conditions, and disease all played factors in the struggle for survival in early America. However, there is a topic that is also significant but not discussed as often. Marriage was a confusing and exhausting situation for many individuals. One may wonder, ”What were the challenges of finding a spouse during the Colonial Era in American history?” It was difficult for young men and women to find a suitable marriage partner who would meet all their needs or standards and stay by their side till death do they part. Oftentimes, there was no choice in the matter. During this timeframe in American history, there were several barriers that affected whom one was allowed to marry. These obstacles included race, culture, social and economic status.

An inspiring actress once said, “Weddings are important because they celebrate life and possibility”(Anne Hathaway). Weddings can either be a girl's most important day, or the most surprising. According to the Elizabethan era, they were a bit more surprising. In this era, these weddings were arranged with ceremonies, certain customs, and receptions. All while the bride was required to meet the standards of women in that society.

Women had great social pressure on them to marry. Young girls were often married by the age of 13 or 14 . It was socially unacceptable if women were not married by the age of 25 . Marriage was mostly for economic benefits, not romantic situations. A wedding, rather than a religious ceremony, was a civil contract that set the responsibilities and duties of husband and wife . Once married, they legally became one with their husbands. Married women had no control of their earnings, inheritance, property, and also could not appear in court as a witness nor vote . Their husbands, therefore, were responsible for all aspects of their wife including discipline .

Marriages were organized in a way in which both families would benefit from the marriage ("Elizabethan Wedding Customs" 1).

In the Colonial period, single men and women were typically guided into a courtship by their parents. Most families preferred to have their children marry someone of equal or higher status and would scout potential spouses on their children's' behalf. The majority of partnerships were arranged regardless of the emotional bonds or lack thereof that they felt for their future spouse, but some young people took it upon themselves to follow their emotions and peruse who they thought would be a good spouse. In this case, the male in the blossoming relationship would approach the parents of his desired wife and ask for their daughter's hand in marriage, but the decision was left up to the most influential relatives in the family. The situation would

In the late 1800’s through early 1900’s women and men were did not “tie the knot” like the women and men do in today’s day. In today’s world, women and men get married because they have many things in common, they are in love with each other, and they choose to get married to one another. In many stories written back then, readers can expect to read about how marriages were arranged and how many people were not having the wedded bliss marriage proclaims today.

Marriage is the joining of two people as husband and wives according to laws and customs. In our society today, women get married of their own free will and gain respect from their spouse. "A dream of the 21st century" is a story written by " Winnifred Harper Cooly". It is about a young women's dream. She imagines that women in the 21st century will have a better place in the society. Ideal marriages in the 19th century were very hard to achieve and most of the time, they were without true love. This short story portrays that women of that time would marry someone to overcome financial difficulties. It also describes the lack of respect between the married couples.

Marriage was put into rolls in the 1950s. Men would work and supply the money. Women would stay home, clean the house, and tend to the children. Now, in the twenty-first century, we no longer have rolls in marriage. Both parties work and supply money. Marriage has changed in many ways throughout the years.

In over half a century, marriage has transformed from being a social requirement to simply being an option in today’s society. What has caused this change? Many institutions in our society have changed drastically along with marriage. Although these institutions have not caused marriage to be optional, they do strongly correlate with the decreased value. The economy, education, religion, and government have all altered since the 1950s. When any institution encounters a change, all other institutions are affected. Family is a major institution in society, and I believe that marriage is an important aspect of this institution. Cohabitation, religion, women in the work world and divorce have all effected the way marriage is viewed today.

From a young age, women in the early 1900s were raised into becoming wives and mothers. They were expected to marry a man while she was still young and pretty, be dependent on him, and perform the duties such as the cooking and cleaning around the home. In tradition, girls were raised to know that they were expected to marry as soon as she was old enough, from the example of their own mother. It was seen as disgraceful for them to miss their

Before the eighteenth century, marriage was far less complicated. Verbal consent and consumation constituted legal marriage: "once the knot was tied by such verbal exchanges it could not be

Marriage is a relationship is about coming together in which two people have promised themselves being with each other. However, marriage in the United States has changed in the 1950s from what it is today. Marriage in the 1950s was different because there was no such idea of a divorce because women had to fix their marriage. (Tartakovsky). Yet, marriage that occurs today people can get a divorce in America. Marriage is better today in America than in the 1950s because of more freedom and not being pressured into marriage in society. This time period 2015 for me is more preferable to live in for marriages instead of in the 1950s. Although marriage is a union between two people, there is a

“Just as today a woman’s wedding was one of the most important days of her life” (William Shakespeare info). During the Elizabethan Era, most marriages were arranged, and some couples would be introduced to each other on their wedding day itself! (William Shakespeare info) Many of times marriages were done so that both families could “benefit” in some way, such as status or wealth ( Linda Alchin). Even though there are some differences from then to now, weddings today have some of the same aspects as Elizabethan weddings did, because a wedding is still one of the biggest days of a person’s life. There were many customs, preparations, and important ceremonies done during these times, and some of them are