Miscegenation Waltz: Fined $50 for Marrying a Black Woman July 1866

Before most Southern states began rebuilding their damaged infrastructure or taking care of their crippled veterans right after the Civil War, their legislatures busied themselves by defining who was white and who was not and by passing laws banning the marriage of men and women of different races. This story of the “novel” marriage of a white man and a black woman in Tennessee in 1866 involves a fine of over $1,000 in todays money for each party, and the equivilent of a $10,000 fine for the minister who performed the ceremony.