Title: How marriages have changed: past, present and future
Headings: Changes, including re-definitions, of
marriages since before biblical times

Marriages
Changes, including re-definitions, of
marriages since before biblical times
Overview:
The significance of marriage:
Types of unions:
The origins and types of marriage:
Who could marry? -- from the 19th century until now:
Related essay:
More recent trends in U.S. marriages
References:
Go to the previous page, to the marriage menu, to the same-sex marriage menu, or choose:
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Content: "What, then, is the nature of this institution [marriage] as understood in Christendom? Its incidents vary in different countries, but what are its essential elements and invariable features? If it be of common acceptance and existence, it must have some pervading identity and universal basis. I conceive that marriage, as understood in Christendom, may for this purpose be defined as the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others." 1
In the United States, the meaning of "marriage" has been in a continual state of flux: In the early part of the 19th century, marriage was generally considered a legally sanctified contract of mutual support between two consenting non-African-American adults of opposite gender. African-Americans were prohibited from marrying in many states. Later in that century, in the territory that was to become the state of Utah, polygyny was legalized ; marriage there became a legally sanctified contract of mutual support between a man and one or more women, all being non-African-American consenting adults. During 1890, a few years before Utah became a state, the earlier definition was reinstated, restricting marriage to one woman and one man.