Polygamy: An Early American History by Sarah M. S. Pearsall (review)

Sarah M. S. Pearsall's recent publication, Polygamy: An Early American History, at first glance appears to be a story of Mormonism. However, from its first pages, Pearsall makes a compelling argument for the presence and importance of plural marriages throughout early America and successfully disrupts the European narrative of monogamy as the only acceptable and practiced system of marriage in early America. Using individual biographies to investigate concepts of matrimony among Indigenous, African, and European people in the Atlantic world, this book does more than simply demonstrate that polygamy existed in a myriad of forms throughout the Atlantic; her work challenges the underpinnings of the Western Christian narrative of marriage. As she concludes, "Monogamous heterosexual marriage as the only form of allowable marriage was one of the legacies of colonial conquest" (p. 291).

The chapters of the book focus on various locations and chronologies with Mormonism appearing only toward the end of the narrative. Grounding her narratives in widely practiced plural marriages among Natives in America, Pearsall reveals the extensive anxieties expressed by colonial officials and religious missionaries who asserted the sanctity of a monogamous marriage, an often difficult endeavor given the amount of plural marriage in the Old Testament. For Europeans, the practice of polygamy indicated deviance, barbarism, and extensive male lust. Natives accepted components of Christianity but were reluctant to embrace monogamy as a cultural practice because of its impracticality. Women, often perceived as victims of polygamy, eagerly embraced the concept to share the burdens of the household, childbirth, and the rearing of large families. Large networks of kinship provided security and community for men and women alike. This narrative also applied to West African tribes who extensively practiced plural marriage for similar reasons. Europeans quickly targeted polygamy as indicative of the lack of civilization, which provided justification for enslavement and subsequent oppression. In slavery, marriage was a complicated institution, often forbidden to enslaved men and women, and yet many practiced plural marriages in their own cultural constructions and behaviors. The necessity of multifaceted networks of family were crucial to survival in enslavement.

The use of biography in each chapter as a point of exploration makes Pearsall's extensive work accessible to a wide audience. Working with European, Indigenous, and African narratives, a broad Atlantic scope, and a 250-year chronology challenges readers to master various historical narratives, though Pearsall moves from one to another seamlessly. Her use of biography as an entry point is successful in this regard. However, this structure is also indicative of the weakness of such a book. Chapters on Native and African plural marriages are far stronger than others where single narratives suggest broader adoption of plural marriages without ever quantifying the practice. How widely practiced was plural marriage in Europe? Yes, there was a larger discourse that redefined marriage during the early modern period in the Atlantic world, but how did this discourse affect daily choices? Despite these unanswered questions, Polygamy does a remarkable job of displacing the construction of monogamy as universal in the Atlantic world. Moreover, Pearsall underscores the active participation and consent of women who entered plural marriages. Polygamy, often imbued with judgments and prejudices, was central to the narrative of Atlantic intimacy.