Page "Premarital sex" Paragraph 12

During the colonial period, premarital sex was publicly frowned upon but privately condoned to an extent.

Unmarried teenagers were often allowed to spend the night in bed together, though some measures such as bundling were sometimes attempted to prevent sexual intercourse.

Even though premarital sex was somewhat condoned, having a child outside of wedlock was not.

If a pregnancy resulted from premarital sex, the young couple were expected to marry.

Marriage and birth records from the late 1700s reveal that between 30 to 40 percent of New England brides were pregnant before marriage.