Email us for help
Loading...
Premium support
Log Out
Our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy have changed. We think you'll like them better this way.
So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Matthew 19:6, KJV:
Love and marriage. Marriage is an institution that is pervasive throughout American life. It isn't just about love or procreation. It defines things like inheritance, rights, privileges, and immigration--just to name a few.
Marriage directly impacts reproduction and the composition of its citizens. With citizenship being attached to birth here after the passage of the 14th Amendment, marriage policy underscores national belonging.
In the present day, our idea of marriage is that it's a partnership between two individuals' man and woman -hopefully for love and companionship. However, marriage also has religious undertones, and in some religions is an important event. Legally, marriage is also a contract. Since marriage functions as an entryway into so many of these things, its significance has changed over time, and it has been subject to regulation. African Americans have married the least of all of the predominant ethnic groups in the U.S. with a 29.9% marriage rate but have the highest separation rate which is 4.5%. Native Americans have the second lowest marriage rate with 37.9%. Hispanics have a 45.1% marriage rate, with a 3.5% separation rate.