For More Than 200 Years African American Men And Women Were Not Allowed To Marry

Much has been written about Black Love – songs, books and poems. There are movies and reality shows dedicated to understanding and celebrating the way Black men and women love each other. Perhaps, our fascination is rooted in the early denial of the legal marriage uniting an enslaved man and woman.

Enslavers wanted to prevent legal marriage because it gave a couple rights over each other which conflicted with the enslavers’ claims. Marriage would have also added an element of stability enslavers opposed. In lieu of legal recognition, enslaved couples “jumped the broom” which was a public declaration of their intentions to settle down in a committed relationship.

After the Civil War and the passage of the 13th Amendment which ended slavery, one of the first rights the newly freed Black Americans did was marry. Historians report a wave of African American marriages soon after the end of the war.

The Freedman’s Bureau recorded marriages. States and other organizations also offered formal documentation of longstanding relationships. Ironically, after the war, Blacks were disproportionately penalized if they were not married.

According to the Freedman’s Bureau, former slaves Benjamin Berry Manson and Sarah Ann Benton White received an official marriage certificate on April 19, 1866, which suggests they were the first legally married African American couple. They had been together since 1843 – but lived intermittently on separate farms — and had 16 children.