Marriage patterns in a black Utopia: Evidence from early nineteenth-century colonial Sierra Leone

ABSTRACT The colony of Sierra Leone was characterized by an unusually heterogeneous population made up of immigrants. The diverse population and the dynamics that led to its creation constitute a valuable case study for mating theories. This article examines the determinants of marriage patterns in early nineteenth-century urban Sierra Leone relying on census data. The degree to which marriage-market constraints and preferences influenced marriage patterns is studied. The results of this study suggest that marriage-market constraints contributed to explaining marriage patterns. However, even in a newly founded and multicultural context as that of urban Sierra Leone, social homogamy based on ascribed characteristics was the most prevalent marriage arrangement, in spite of the disruption of kin relations caused by slavery and migration.

• Publication year

  2019

• Venue

  The History of the Family

• Publication date

  2019-07-19

• Fields of study

  Geography, Sociology, History

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1080/1081602X.2019.1637361
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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