Polygamy: New life for a dead relic of barbarism?

Cultural markers pointing to plural marriage, from Sister Wives to the throuple, have sprung up among us over the last few years, fascinating "normal" Americans. Polygamy was, of course, one of the twin relics of barbarism (along with slavery) that the Republican Party promised to abolish in 1856. It took longer to abolish legalized polygamy than legalized slavery. But with the Supreme Court's 1878 decision in Reynolds v. United States, plural marriage met its final demise in American law. Well

Cultural markers pointing to plural marriage, from Sister Wives to the throuple, have sprung up among us over the last few years, fascinating "normal" Americans. Polygamy was, of course, one of the twin relics of barbarism (along with slavery) that the Republican Party promised to abolish in 1856. It took longer to abolish legalized polygamy than legalized slavery. But with the Supreme Court's 1878 decision in Reynolds v. United States, plural marriage met its final demise in American law. Well…