Same Sex Marriages

16 Pages 3999 Words

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Here are hisorical notations about some of the dramatic changes in the legal structure of marriage.
• From the 5th to the 14th centuries, the Roman Catholic Church conducted special ceremonies to bless same-sex unions which were almost identical for those to bless heterosexual unions. At the very least, these were spiritual, if not sexual, unions.
• In 1076, Pope Alexander II issued a decree prohibiting marriages between couples who were more closely related than 6th cousins.
• In the 16th century, servants and day laborers were not allowed to marry in Bavaria and Austria unless they had the permission of local political authorities. This law was not finally abolished in Austria until 1921.
• From the 1690s to the 1870s, "wife sale" was common in rural and small-town England. To divorce his wife, a husband could present her with a rope around her neck in a public sale to another man.
• Marriage was strictly a civil and not an celebratory ceremony for the Puritans in Massachusetts Bay until 1686.
• The Pilgrims outlawed courtship of a daughter or a female servant unless consent was first obtained from parents or master.
• Under English common law, and in all American colonies and states until the middle of the 19th century, married women had no legal standing. They could not own property, sign contracts, or legally control any wages they might earn.
• In 1848, New York became the first state to pass a Married Woman’s Property Act, guaranteeing the right of married women to own property.
• Throughout most of the 19th century, the minimum age of consent for sexual intercourse in most American states was 10 years. In Delaware it was only 7 years.
• As late as 1930, twelve states allowed boys as young as 14 and girls as young as 12 to marry (with parental consent).
• As late as 1940, married women were not allowed to make a legal contract in twelve states.
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