Waud, Alfred R, “Marriage of a colored soldier at Vicksburg,” 1866, Mississippi Vicksburg, 1866, Photograph.

Despite the differences in legality, familial bonds and marriage were important parts in Black lives in both the North and South. In her article expanding on Tera Hunter’s expansive study on Black love in pre-Civil War America, Bound in Wedlock: Slave and Free Black Marriage in the Nineteenth Century, Vanessa M. Holden summarizes eloquently the complex cultural role that marriage played for both free and enslaved African Americans during this period:

Kinship was essential to Black people and many free and enslaved people valued marriage as a way to signify commitment and love. Marriage was a way to codify intimate relationships. However, it was also an expression of humanity. It was a right that could grant other rights, optimizing its use as an instrument of social control. Marriage was not a failsafe institution with the ability to right racism’s wrongs… Marriage was important, not perfect.³

O'Sullivan, Timothy H, “Five generations on Smith's Plantation, Beaufort, South Carolina,” 1862, South Carolina Beaufort, [Printed Later] Photograph.

In the North, the effort to legally recognize marriage, even for enslaved peoples, comes from the Puritan moral strictures that heavily influenced colonial New England. Overall, “family was the fundamental unit of Puritan society and the primary vehicle for preserving and perpetuating Puritan ideals.”⁴ So, to that effect, legally binding unions which discouraged extramarital relations and encouraged the family units inevitably sought to maintain Puritan morality (which applied to both white and Black residents, enslaved or otherwise). Within this system, although still enslaved, bondmen and bondwomen were able to experience glimpses of personhood and equality to whites through the institution of marriage.

Smith, Venture, A Narrative of The Life and Adventures of Venture Smith, a Native of Africa, but Resident above Sixty Years in the United States of America. Related by Himself. New London: Printed in 1798, 1798, New London, Book.

And, in cases where one partner was free and their spouse was still enslaved, marriage became a tool through which freedom could be achieved for both parties. One historical example of this situation is the story of Venture Smith and his wife. Taken from West Africa and enslaved in Rhode Island at age eight, Venture met and married Marget (Meg), another of his master’s slaves, by age 22. The two had children together, but Venture was sold to another master and the two were separated. Venture, however, was incredibly opportunistic and was able to negotiate with his master to keep a portion of his wages. Then, “through his industry and entrepreneurship, he was able to purchase first his freedom, then that of his two oldest sons, Solomon and Cuff, and eventually—through their labor as well as his—his then pregnant wife Meg and their daughter Hannah.”⁵ This extremely impressive dedication to preserving his family unit, in his own words, was what he considered his greatest achievement.⁶ 

“Venture Smith Gravestone Gathering,” 2019, East Haddam Connecticut, Photograph.

McQuillar, Tayannah Lee, and Katelan V. Foisy, The Hoodoo Tarot: 78-Card Deck and Book for Rootworkers. Rochester, 2020.Vermont: Destiny Books. Image