Entitling Marriage: A History of Marriage, Public Money, and the Law

Today public marriage-based entitlements, such as Social Security benefits for spouses, are considered part and parcel of marriage itself. This was not always the case. “Entitling Marriage” charts the development of centralized marriage-based entitlements from the late 18th century into the early 20th century. The emergence and proliferation of such entitlements profoundly shaped the legal definition of marriage, as well as Americans’ shared understanding of their rights and roles as husbands, wives, and citizens.