A Rape in the Early Republic

Gender and Legal Culture in an 1806 Virginia Trial

Alexander Smyth (Autor)

Randal L. Hall (Herausgeber)

Buch | Softcover

136 Seiten

2017
The University Press of Kentucky (Verlag)
978-0-8131-6952-1 (ISBN)

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On January 14, 1806, Sidney Hanson was raped by John Deskins on a rough gravel path in the woods in Tazewell County, Virginia. In the early nineteenth century, trials for rape were rare. Scanty court records typically lacked the detail needed to reconstruct the lives of those involved and evaluate the social and physical setting of the crime. Yet the events on that fateful day in 1806 would be the exception.

In A Rape in the Early Republic, Randal L. Hall reproduces the complete trial testimony of Alexander Smyth, the prosecutor for Hanson's trial. Smyth's detailed record offers a revealing glimpse into how early rape cases moved through the legal system, first at the local level and then in the state's recently created district court system. It also shows that Deskins was not the only one on trial -- Hanson's character was being scrutinized as well.

Hall's introduction, rather than offering an analysis of Smyth's documents, provides important context and highlights historical themes that Hanson's situation illustrates. Featuring classroom discussion ideas and a list of suggested reading, A Rape in the Early Republic will be a valuable resource for students and scholars as well as anyone interested in gender, law, and society in the early republic.

Randal L. Hall is associate professor of history at Rice University and editor of the Journal of Southern History. He is the author of several books, including Mountains on the Market: Industry, the Environment, and the South, and Lum and Abner: Rural America and the Golden Age of Radio.

Erscheinungsdatum	01.04.2017
Reihe/Serie	New Directions in Southern History
Zusatzinfo	4 b&w photos, 2 maps
Verlagsort	Lexington
Sprache	englisch
Maße	140 x 216 mm
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► Allgemeines / Lexika
	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918)
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte
	Recht / Steuern ► EU / Internationales Recht
	Recht / Steuern ► Rechtsgeschichte
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Gender Studies
ISBN-10	0-8131-6952-6 / 0813169526
ISBN-13	978-0-8131-6952-1 / 9780813169521
Zustand	Neuware