Wiccans and Gypsies are among some of the groups who developed their own broom-jumping tradition. And even couples who do not actually jump a broom when they get married, often refer to, or at least recognize, the phrase to be synonymous with getting married in the same way most Americans associate “tying the knot” with getting married.īroom jumping is also practiced by non- #Black groups and in different religions around the world with some variation. The practice survived, and made a resurgence after publication of Alex Haley’s book “Roots.”Ĭurrently, many African and #African American couples include jumping the broom at the end of their wedding ceremonies as a tribute to tradition. 'Jumping the broom' is an informal marriage or 'partnership.' It comes from peasant or gypsy marriages before the idea of a 'civil marriage' (going before a justice of the peace to vow marriage oaths) came about in Britain with the Marriage Act 1836 - as an alternative to a church marriage. During this time, jumping the broom fell out of practice from the stigma it carried, and in some cases still carries, among African Americans who wanted nothing to do with anything associated with that era. Once Blacks could have weddings with rings that were recognizable by anyone as a symbol of marriage, the broom ceremony wasn’t required.

Jumping the broom had nothing to do with Whites. With slavery over and superficial hints of racial integration allowed, African-Americans could now have European-style marriages. The phrase can also be written as 'jump (over) the broomstick.' It's important to me that we both jump the broom during our ceremony. A custom that originates in various European heritages, it is now a widespread tradition in African-American communities. Jumping the broom was not a custom of slavery, but is a part of African culture that survived American slavery. To jump from one side of a broom to the other with one's new spouse. This particular Akan practice of jumping the broom was picked up by other African ethnic groups in the Americas and used to strengthen marriages during #slavery among their communities. Jumping the Broom did survive in the Americas, especially in the United States, among slaves brought from the Asante area. The irony is that practice of jumping the broom was largely discarded after Emancipation in America which was consistent with the eventual fall of the Ashanti Confederacy in Ghana in 1897 and the coming of British customs. The jumping of the broom does not add up to taking a “leap of faith.” Whoever jumped highest over the broom was the decision maker of the household (usually the man).

It also represented the determination of who ran the household. Furthermore, it expressed her overall commitment to the house. Jumping over the broom symbolized the wife’s commitment or willingness to clean the courtyard of the new home she had joined. The couple would often but not always jump over the broom at the end of the ceremony. Brooms were waved over the heads of marrying couples to ward off spirits. This is where the broom comes into play regarding marriage. Parry reveals how and why the simple act of 'jumping the broom' captivates so many people who, on the surface, appear to have little in common with each other.The broom in Asante and other Akan cultures held spiritual value and symbolized sweeping away past wrongs or removing evil spirits. Such innovations have an enduring impact on the descendants of the original practitioners.

His surprising findings shed new light on the complexities of cultural exchange between peoples of African and European descent from the 1700s up to the twenty-first century.ĭrawing from the historical records of enslaved people in the United States, British Romani, Louisiana Cajuns, and many others, Parry discloses how marginalized people found dignity in the face of oppression by innovating and reimagining marriage rituals. Parry untangles the convoluted history of the 'broomstick wedding.' Popularly associated with African American culture, Parry traces the ritual's origins to marginalized groups in the British Isles and explores how it influenced the marriage traditions of different communities on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In this definitive history of a unique tradition, Tyler D.

Jumping the broom meaning