Polygamy is the practice of having more than one spouse at the same time. Specifically, polygyny is the practice of one man taking more than one wife while polyandry is the practice of one woman taking more than one husband. Polygamy is a common marriage pattern in some parts of the world. In North America, polygamy has not been a culturally normative or legally recognized institution since the continent's colonization by Europeans.

Polygamy became a significant social and political issue in the United States in 1852, when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) made it known that a form of the practice, called plural marriage, was part of its doctrine. Opposition to the practice by the United States government resulted in an intense legal conflict, and culminated in LDS Church president Wilford Woodruff announcing the church's official abandonment of the practice on September 25, 1890.Woodruff's declaration was formally accepted in a church general conference on October 6, 1890. However, breakaway Mormon fundamentalist groups living mostly in the western United States, Canada, and Mexico still practice plural marriage. In the United States, de facto polygamy is illegal under federal law, under the Edmunds Act, and all states have laws against bigamy.

Definition Polygamy is defined as the practice or condition of one person having more than one spouse at the same time, conventionally referring to a situation where all spouses know about each other, in contrast to bigamy, where two or more spouses are usually unaware of each other. Polyandry is the name of the practice or condition when one female has more than one male spouse at the same time.

Legality

Canada In Canada, polygamy is a criminal offence under section 293 of the Criminal Code, which provides for a penalty of up to five years imprisonment, but prosecutions are rare. As of January 2009, no person had been prosecuted for polygamy in Canada in over sixty years. This changed in 2014, when polygamy charges were brought against Winston Blackmore and James Oler. On March 9, 2018, the Supreme Court of British Columbia reaffirmed the constitutionality of Canada's anti-polygamy laws, upholding the July 2017 polygamy convictions of Winston Blackmore and James Oler.

The federal Criminal Code applies throughout the country. It extends the normal definition of polygamy to having any kind of conjugal union with more than one person at the same time. Anyone who assists, celebrates, or is a part to a rite, ceremony, or contract that sanctions a polygamist relationship is also guilty of polygamy. Polygamy is an offence punishable by up to five years in prison.

Edith Barlow, a mother of five in the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., was denied permanent residence and was asked to leave the country after ten years in Canada.

Alberta A 2005 report by the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre recommended that Canada decriminalize polygamy, stating: "Criminalization is not the most effective way of dealing with gender inequality in polygamous and plural union relationships. Furthermore, it may violate the constitutional rights of the parties involved."Polygamy in Canada: Legal and Social Implications for Women and Children – A Collection of Policy Research Reports.

British Columbia In 2007, the Attorney General of British Columbia expressed concerns over whether this prohibition is constitutional, and an independent prosecutor in British Columbia recommended that Canadian courts be asked to rule on the constitutionality of laws against polygamy. The Supreme Court of British Columbia upheld Canada's anti-polygamy section 293 of the Criminal Code and other ancillary legislation in a 2011 reference case. On March 9, 2018, the Supreme Court of British Columbia upheld the constitutionality of Canada's anti-polygamy laws again.

Mexico Prior to Spanish colonization, polygamy (polygyny) was widely accepted and practiced by the indigenous people of what is now Mexico. In contrast to Eurocentric views of marriage and property in which land and other belongings were perceived as being owned by individuals or couples, indigenous people regarded property in a more communal manner, facilitating the existence of polygamy. This practice was most commonly practiced amongst the elites of the Aztecs (pipiltin), whereas average members of the society (macehualtin) were more likely to keep to monogamous relationships. Because the number of wives that one could marry was based on the male's economic capacity, calpulli leaders and pipiltin were the only members of the community capable of maintaining multiple wives.

At the turn of the 16th century, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Queen Isabella I of Castille and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, began their imposition and conquest on indigenous peoples. Citing the Sixth Commandment of the Roman Catholic Bible as reason for prohibition of polygamy, the so called Laws of Toro (1505) were instituted. These gave the Roman Catholic Church exclusive control over the statues for legitimization of marriage, and declared monogamy to be the only legitimate form of marriage.

In 1876, Anglo-Saxon Mormons from the United States fled to the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua after the prohibition of polygamy in the United States. Ten years later, the Book of Mormon was translated to Spanish by Meliton G. Trejo and Jamie Z. Stewart. In 1895, Mormonism in Mexico took root with its own colony in Ciudad Juárez. In 1937, Nahua-Mexican evangelist, Margarito Bautista, presented himself among the Third Convention, advocating for the reinstatement of plural marriage. However, Bautista's plead was quickly rejected and he was expelled from the movement.

Today, polygamy is illegal in Mexico and its consequences are outlined in the 16th Title of the 2nd Volume of the Federal Penal Code, called "Against Civil Status and Bigamy" under Article 279. The marriage of more than one partner can result in up to a five year sentence in federal prison. However, some unofficial cases of polygamy remain present in the country.

United States

Polygamy is a crime and punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or both, according to the law of the individual state and the circumstances of the offense.West's Encyclopedia of American Law . Eds. Jeffrey Lehman and Shirelle Phelps. Vol. 8. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 26–28. 13 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Thomson Gale. Brigham Young University – Utah. 11 Dec. 2007 Polygamy was outlawed in federal territories by the Edmunds Act, and there are laws against the practice in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Guam,9 GCA §31.10 and Puerto Rico.33 L.P.R.A. § 4754 Because state laws exist, polygamy is not actively prosecuted at the federal level, but the practice is considered "against public policy".

Many US courts (e.g. Turner v. S., 212 Miss. 590, 55 So.2d 228) treat bigamy as a strict liability crime: in some jurisdictions, a person can be convicted of a felony even if he reasonably believed he had only one legal spouse. For example, if a person has the mistaken belief that their previous spouse is dead or that their divorce is final, they can still be convicted of bigamy if they marry a new person.

Utah reduced polygamy from a third-degree felony to a minor infraction on May 13, 2020.

Polygamy and immigration Accordingly, the U.S. government does not recognize bigamous marriages for immigration purposes (that is, would not allow one of the spouses to petition for immigration benefits for the other), even if they are legal in the country where the bigamous marriage was celebrated.Matter of Mujahid, 15 I. & N. Dec. 546 (BIA 1976) Any immigrant who is coming to the United States to practice polygamy is not eligible for permanent resident immigrant status.8 USC §1182 (a)(10)(A)

History Scots-Irish settlers, and some Welsh emigrants, carried long-standing multiple partner traditions from Europe to the Americas. Utopian and communal groups which were established during the mid-19th century had varying marriage systems, including group marriage and polygyny.Loue, pp. 27–30 There is also some evidence for the existence of multiple marriage partners in the American South, particularly after the Civil War.

Polygamy has also been practiced, discreetly, by some Muslims who are living in America. Among American Muslims, a small minority of around 50,000 to 100,000 people are estimated to live in families with a husband maintaining an informal polygamous relationship. However, these polygamous marriages are not recognized by American law.

Because polygamy has been illegal throughout the United States since the mid-19th century, and because it was illegal in many individual states before that period of time, sources on alternative marriage practices are limited. Consequently, it is difficult to get a clear picture of the extent of the practice both in the past and the present.

Early Latter Day Saint practice

The Mormon practice of plural marriage was officially introduced by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, on July 12, 1843. Because polygamy was illegal in the state of Illinois,Greiner & Sherman, Revised Laws of Illinois, 1833, pp. 198–199 it was practiced in secret during Smith's lifetime. During the 1839–1844 Nauvoo era, while several Mormon leaders (including Smith, Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball) took plural wives, any Mormon leaders who publicly taught the polygamous doctrine were disciplined. For example, Hyram Brown was excommunicated on February 1, 1844.Times and Seasons, vol. 5, pg. 423 , February 1, 1844 In May 1844 Smith declared, "What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one."History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume VI , edited by B. H. Roberts, 1902.

After the death of Joseph Smith, the practice of polygamy continued to exist in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which was then led by Brigham Young. In the territory that became Utah, and some surrounding areas, plural marriage was openly practiced by LDS Church adherents. In 1852, Young felt the LDS Church in Utah was secure enough to publicly announce their practice of polygamy. However opposition from the U.S. government threatened the legal standing of the LDS Church. President Wilford Woodruff announced the LDS Church's official abandonment of the practice on September 25, 1890. Woodruff's declaration was formally accepted in an LDS Church general conference on October 6, 1890. The LDS Church's position on the practice of polygamy was reinforced by another formal statement in 1904 called the Second Manifesto, which again renounced polygamy.Scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for the Sunday Schools, Salt Lake City: Deseret Sunday School Union, 1968, p. 159

Although the Second Manifesto ended the official practice of new plural marriages, existing plural marriages were not automatically dissolved. Many Mormons, including prominent LDS Church leaders, maintained existing plural marriages well into the 20th century. A small percentage of adherents rejected the change, identifying as Mormon fundamentalists and leaving the mainstream LDS Church to continue practicing plural marriage.

Mormon fundamentalism