The First Sexual Revolution: A Comparative Study of Premarital Pregnancy Rates in Maryland and Massachusetts: 1700-1810

Abstract

This study tracks the rates of premarital pregnancy among couples in three Maryland church communities during the eighteenth century. Previous scholarship was based largely on studies of New England towns, which showed rates rising over the eighteenth century, eventually reaching high points where 30-40% of brides walked down the aisle pregnant. Scholars then used these findings to generalize about premarital rates and sexual behavior in all the colonies. My study calls into question those generalizations by showing how each Maryland church developed its own distinct pattern, all of which differ sharply from the New England model. My work also suggests that the different patterns of premarital pregnancy in the Maryland churches are likely attributable to a host of different factors, such as demography, changing laws, and the different ways colonies prosecuted sexual transgressions.