[eaglescout1998]

If I am not mistaken, the marriage license began as a mechanism to keep whites from marrying outside of their race.

[muawiyah]

you are mistaken ~ a marriage license is just an adjunct to a process called CIVIL REGISTRATION ~ the US was later in adopting it than most countries ~ the French Revolution really pushed the idea in Europe and Scandinavia.

Much of the world has yet to adopt it.

Previously churches served as the places to register births, deaths, marriages, etc.