Marriage of a Colored soldier at Vicksburg by Chaplain Warren of the Freedmen's Bureau

Because marriages between slaves before emancipation had no legal standing, many couples rushed to have their marriages officially registered and made solemn during Reconstruction. The Freedmen's Bureau along with African-American ministers became strong advocates of legalized marriages. This sketch showed a chaplain marrying an African-American couple in the offices of the Vicksburg, Mississippi Freedmen's Bureau. The sketch was the basis for a news illustration published in Harper's Weekly. Marriage was only one way that former slaves exercised their new freedom. For many former slaves, freedom meant choosing a new name for themselves, dressing as they pleased, learning to read, or refusing to be deferential toward their former owner.

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