Episode 278: Sarah Pearsall, Polygamy: An Early American History


Polygamy is not a practice that often comes to mind when we think about early America. But it turns out, polygamy was a ubiquitous practice among different groups of early Americans living in 17th and 18th-century North America.

Sarah Pearsall, a University Teaching Officer, Fellow, and Historian at the University of Cambridge, joins us to discuss the surprising history of polygamy in early North America, with details from her book, Polygamy: An Early American History.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.

Episode Summary

Sarah Pearsall, a University Teaching Officer, Fellow, and Historian at the University of Cambridge, joins us to discuss the surprising history of polygamy in early North America, with details from her book, Polygamy: An Early American History.

During our conversation, Sarah reveals how and why many Native American and West African peoples practiced polygamy; The ways in which polygamy offered practitioners economic, social, and political power; And how and why monogamy became so powerfully embedded in the early United States.

What You’ll Discover

  • The practice of polygamy in early America
  • Why historians have ignored polygamy
  • How Sarah studied and found instances of polygamy in early North America
  • Historical records where one can find polygamy
  • Where polygamy began in early North America
  • Polygamy in Native American communities
  • What polygamy meant for Native American men
  • What polygamy meant for Native American women
  • Power dynamics and family structure inside plural marriages
  • Conflict between Native Americans and Europeans over plural marriage
  • Polygamy and the Pueblo Revolt
  • Interactions between Native American peoples and French missionaries
  • The Protestant response to Native American polygamy
  • European colonists and the practice of polygamy
  • West African traditions of plural marriage
  • Practicing and adapting plural marriage to American enslavement
  • Women and multiple husbands
  • Ways polygamy informed relationships between the enslaved and slaveholders
  • The early United States’ use of monogamy
  • How understanding plural marriage can help us better understand history

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In your opinion, what might have happened if polygamy had been legal in Europe? Do you think more colonists would have practiced plural marriage in North America?

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