Of course it does; it always has - for obvious reasons. Because marriage has always been around, governments have had to recognize it for the purpose of staying OUT of it - freedom from testimony against your SPOUSE, inheritance issues, child rearing rights, common property rights, etc.
I honestly don't understand this ridiculous argument.
You’re just wrong on your history. Marriage wasn’t recognized by the State in common-law countries until 1753 with Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act in most of the UK. Before then there was no government recognition of marriage whatsoever. Marriage was recognized by the Church. In 1863 in the UK the requirement of a religious ceremony was removed creating civil marriage. Each state in the US has various laws but civil marriage generally came about in the 1800’s.