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Taking Private Life Seriously: Marriage and Nationhood
Author(s) -
Brookes Barbara
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
history compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.121
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1478-0542
DOI - 10.1111/1478-0542.054
Subject(s) - dominance (genetics) , citizenship , public life , race (biology) , white (mutation) , gender studies , psychology , sociology , criminology , political science , law , biochemistry , chemistry , politics , gene
In her path‐breaking book, Public Vows: A History of Marriage and the Nation , Nancy Cott notes how although marriage is commonly viewed as part of private life, assumptions about marriage have been an integral part of public policy and had implications for citizenship. 1 A number of American colonies passed laws that aimed to prevent intermarriage between white and Negro or mulatto persons, in order to retain the dominance of the white race. Marriage and the nation are, therefore, intimately entwined, and histories which explore the intimate ties created by marriage are likely to throw new light on the evolution of nationhood.