1930s-1940s: (Plasaj Marriages as Interim Partnerships — Many Plasaj Marriages Viewed as Interim Partnerships Insured by Family-Proctored Contracts Until Leg…

1930s-1940s: (Plasaj Marriages as Interim Partnerships — Many Plasaj Marriages Viewed as Interim Partnerships Insured by Family-Proctored Contracts Until Legal Marriage Was Desired, Unlike the Assumptions of the Marriage Tax Law Fees Rarely Prohibiting a Couple’s Access to Legal Marriage — Most Marriage Celebrations Even in Rural Settings Costing More Than the Taxes, the Wait to Legal Marriage Often Being in Regard to a General Capacity to House a Family, the Hundreds of Self-Built Homes in Class Zones IV and III in Port-au-Prince Being Often the Material Evidence of Partnering Contracts): Many plasaj marriages were viewed as interim partnerships insured by family-proctored contracts until legal marriage was desired. However, unlike the assumptions of the marriage tax law, fees rarely prohibited a couple’s access to legal marriage. Most marriage celebrations, even in rural settings, cost more than the taxes. The wait to legal marriage was often in regard to a general capacity to house a family. Many plasaj women in marriages lived with their parental figures or families while they waited for their partners to establish greater economic security or to build their home. Thus, the hundreds of self-built homes in Class Zones IV and III in Port-au-Prince were often the material evidence of partnering contracts — every cinder block laid in Bel-Air or Poste Marchand was a love letter written in cement, the house being the condition of marriage and the marriage being the condition of a future, the whole economy of intimacy built from the ground up.