Americans have long
viewed marriage between a white man and a white woman as a sacred
union. But marriages between African Americans have seldom been
treated with the same reverence. This discriminatory legacy traces
back to centuries of slavery, when the overwhelming majority of black
married couples were bound in servitude as well as wedlock. Though
their unions were not legally recognized, slaves commonly married,
fully aware that their marital bonds would be sustained or nullified
according to the whims of white masters.
Bound in Wedlock is
the first comprehensive history of African American marriage in the
nineteenth century. Uncovering the experiences of African American
spouses in plantation records, legal and court documents, and pension
files, Tera W. Hunter reveals the myriad ways couples adopted,
adapted, revised, and rejected white Christian ideas of marriage.
Setting their own standards for conjugal relationships, enslaved
husbands and wives were creative and, of necessity, practical in
starting and supporting families under conditions of uncertainty and
cruelty.
