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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 (see, for example, previous post on [[When did interracial marriage become legal in the United States?|interracial marriage]]). 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 essentially underscores national belonging<ref>Margot Canaday, ''The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America'', 2011.</ref>. Throughout history, the United States has idealized faithful, intraracial monogamy in the name of public interest and securing public order, and it formed the basis of defining appropriate sexual activity<ref>Julian B. Carter, ''The Heart of Whiteness: Normal Sexuality and Race in America, 1880-1940'', 2007.</ref>. In the present day, our idea of marriage is that it's a partnership between two individuals--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, it's significance has changed over time, and it has been subject to regulation. But how did marriage become an institution in the United States?

==== 19th Century ====

The informality of marriage practices--and their variability from state to state--became more visible after the American Civil War. When the federal government recognized a need to provide pensions to widows of former soldiers in 1862, women throughout the country attempted to collect these pensions that they were due. Requiring proof of marriage, though, meant some women had to be creative or resourceful. Few women had official documents from priests, judges, or other local officials. More often than not, women submitted letters from friends or neighbors attesting to the fact that the couple were married, or artifacts like pieces of uniforms, or locks of hair. The preponderance of these artifacts in the National Archives Civil War Pension files suggests that legal marriage was not a standard practice. And increasingly, from the late 19th century through the 1920s, marriage became a formal process in local government.

==== Coverture ====

It was not until 2015 that same sex marriage was fully decided in ''Obergefell v. Hodges''. When this case was before the US Supreme Court, the primary issues at hand were discussing whether the 14th Amendment required a state to license marriages of same-sex couples, and whether a state had to recognize the legal marriage of a same-sex couple that had been licensed and performed in another state. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled yes and yes. In his closing remarks, Justice Kennedy wrote: "No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right."

While opposition remains, it was with this case the fundamental right to marry was guaranteed to same-sex couples in the United States.