Colonial Courtship
The concept of dating among teenagers was nonexistent in colonial times. Young
people were considered either children or adults, and as important as marriage was
in the colonies, sweethearts were older than one might suspect. The practices of
courtship and marriage varied among the different communities.
PURITANS
For Puritans, marriage was a civil contract, not a religious or
sacred union. Although adults strictly supervised a couple’s
courting, parents allowed two unusual practices. One was
the use of a courting stick, a long tube into which the cou-
ple could whisper while the family was in another room. The
other was the practice of “bundling”: a young man spent
the night in the same bed as his sweetheart, with a large
bundling board (shown below) between them.
Before marr ying, the couple had to
allow for Puritan leaders
to voice any objections
to the marriage at
the meeting house.
Passing that, the
couple would marry
in a very simple civil
ceremony and share
a quiet dinner.
FRONTIER OR BACKCOUNTRY PEOPLE
Andrew Jackson, depicted with his wife in
the painting below, “stole” his wife (she
was willing) from her family. Jackson was
following a custom of the backcountry
people, who lived along the western edge
of the colonies.
These colonists, mostly Scots-Irish,
based their marriages on the old custom
of “abduction”—stealing the bride—often
with her consent. Even regular marriages
began with the groom and his friends
coming to “steal” the bride. Much drink-
ing and dancing accompanied these wild
and hilarious weddings.
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