Marriage age

The minimum marriage age was 12 years for females and 14 years for males under English civil law until 1753. By default, these provisions became the minimum marriage ages in colonial America.^[2] The English Marriage Act 1753 required a marriage to be covered by a license (requiring parental consent for those under 21) or the publication of banns (which parents of those under 21 could forbid). Additionally, the Church of England dictated that both the bride and groom must be at least 21 years of age to marry without the consent of their families. English common law inherited from England remained in force in the United States unless and until a specific state enacted a law to replace or modify it.

Age of consent

In 1275, in England, as part of the rape law, the Statute of Westminster 1275, it was a misdemeanor to "ravish" a "maiden within age", whether with or without her consent. The phrase "within age" was interpreted by jurist Sir Edward Coke to mean the age of marriage, which at the time was 12 years.^[8] A 1576 law imposed more severe punishments for ravishing a girl for which the age of consent was set at 10 years.^[8] Jurist Sir Matthew Hale stated that both rape laws were valid at the same time..^[8] Under English common law the age of consent, as part of the law of rape, was 10 or 12 years and rape was defined as forceful sexual intercourse with a woman against her will. To convict a man of rape, both force and lack of consent had to be proven, except in the case of a girl who was under the age of consent. Since the age of consent applied in all circumstances, not just in physical assaults, the law also made it impossible for a girl under 12 years to consent to sexual activity. There was one exception: a man's acts with his wife (females over 12 years), to which rape law did not apply.^[9]

Marriage age

English common law applied in each the United States jurisdiction unless and until a state statute replaced or modified it. In the United States, especially in recent years, the general marriage age has been revised downward so that they are now between 18 and 21 years of age.^[2]

There are three sets of marriage ages: 1) general marriage age, 2) the minimum marriage age set by statute and 3) minimum marriage age set by the common law. There are three sets of laws specifying minimum age requirements for marriage: 1) the minimum age with parental and judicial or court consent, 2) the minimum age with parental consent, and 3) the minimum age without parental consent.

There is little variation over time or across states in the laws without parental consent.^[2] Prior to 1971, approximately 80% of states specified an age of 18 for marriage without parental consent for women, and approximately 85% specified an age of 21 for men.^[2]

In states without a legislated minimum, common law (which specifies a minimum of 12 years old for females and 14 years old for males) prevails; the estimated effect of a common law is similar to a legislated minimum of 13 or less.^[10]

In California, the governing law is found in California Family Code sections 302 and 304 (2019): "An unmarried person under 18 years of age may be issued a marriage license upon obtaining a court order granting permission to the underage person or persons to marry, in accordance with the requirements described in Section 304."^[11] Historically, Section 56 of the California Civil Code (1872) fixed 15 as the age at which a female could marry without parental consent. In 1921, the age was raised to 18.^[12]

Age of consent

In Delaware, the age of consent was 10 years until 1871 when it was lowered to 7 years. Under the 1871 law, the penalty for sex with a girl below the age of consent was death.^[9]

In 1880, 37 states set the age of consent at 10 years, 10 states set an age of consent at 12 years, and Delaware had an age of consent of 7 years.^[13][14][15]

In California, early statutes forbade sexual intercourse with females under the age of 10,^[16] following the English statute of 1576. In 1889, the California statute was amended to raise the age to 14 years^[17] and the age was raised to 16 in 1897.^[18][12]

In the late-19th century, a "social purity movement" composed of Christian feminist reform groups began advocating a raise in the age of consent to 16, with the goal of raising it ultimately to 18. By 1920, 26 states had an age of consent of 16, 21 states had an age of consent of 18, and one state (Georgia) had an age of consent of 14.^[19]

Alaska became the 49th state in 1959, with the age of consent being 16 years. Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959, with the age of consent being 14 years.

Georgia raised its age of consent from 14 to 16 in 1995 as did Hawaii in 2001. Colorado lowered its age of consent to 15 in 1971, after it lowered the age of majority from 21 to 18 years.

As of August 1, 2018, the age of consent in each state in the United States was either 16 years, 17 years, or 18 years.^[20]