A Georgia Marriage License, 1900
History of Marriage “Licensing” (grant of permission)
For most of Western history, marriage was a private contract between two families. Until the 16th-century, Christian churches accepted the validity of a marriage on the basis of a couple’s declarations. If two people claimed that they had exchanged marital vows—even without witnesses—the Catholic Church accepted that they were validly married.
State courts in the United States* have routinely held that public cohabitation was sufficient evidence of a valid marriage. Marriage license application records from government authorities are widely available starting from the mid-19th century with many available dating from the 17th century in colonial America. Marriage licenses from their inception have sought to establish certain prohibitions on the institution of marriage. These prohibitions have changed throughout history. In the 1920s, they were used by 38 states to prohibit whites from marrying blacks, mulattos, Japanese, Chinese, Indians, Mongolians, Malays or Filipinos without a state approved license. Wikipedia: “Marriage License”
Black’s Law Dictionary defines “license” as “The permission by competent authority to do an act which without such permission [...] would be illegal.”
“In the mid-20th century, governments began to get out of the business of deciding which couples were “fit” to marry. Courts invalidated laws against interracial marriage, struck down other barriers and even extended marriage rights to prisoners.
But governments began relying on marriage licenses for a new purpose: as a way of distributing resources to dependents. The Social Security Act provided survivors’ benefits with proof of marriage. Employers used marital status to determine whether they would provide health insurance or pension benefits to employees’ dependents. Courts and hospitals required a marriage license before granting couples the privilege of inheriting from each other or receiving medical information.” (Stephanie Koontz, Taking Marriage Private: 2007)
Historical types of non-government marriage
"Jumping of the Broom" marriage ceremony
Little form of marriage was recognized for enslaved blacks during American slavery. In its absence, the ceremonial “jumping of the broom” served as an open declaration of settling down in a marriage-like relationship within the slave community. Jumping the broom was always done before witnesses as a public ceremonial announcement to other members of the slave community that a couple chose to become as close to married as was then allowed (Source: Wikipedia).
