Intermarriage of Frontier Immigrant, Religious and Residential Groups: An Examination of Macrostructural Assimilation

Abstract

Intermarriage among heterogeneous social groups has often been studied as a process of assimilation. The present paper extends this research through a unique application of macro‐structural propositions of intermarriage (Blau et al., 1982) to a nineteenth century American frontier population. Variants of these propositions are presented, used to address age patterns of nuptiality, and tested through a longitudinal application. Results support the utility of macro‐structural theories in analyses encompassing initial community formation as well as assimilation of later arriving immigrants. Analyses illustrate both the assimilation of initially arriving immigrant groups on the frontier and the initial emergence of new heterogeneities in the established native population and later arriving immigrants.