Limit search to available items
Book Cover
E-book
Author Smyth, Alexander, 1765-1830, author

Title A rape in the early republic : gender and legal culture in an 1806 Virginia trial / Alexander Smyth ; Edited and with an introduction by Randal L. Hall
Published Lexington, Kentucky : University Press of Kentucky, [2017]

Copies

Description 1 online resource
Series New Directions in Southern History Ser
New Directions in Southern History Ser
Contents Front cover; Copyright; Contents; Preface; Introduction; The Invitation to Publish; The Testimony; The Argument to the Jury; The Sentencing; Appendix A; Appendix B; Discussion Ideas for the Classroom; Suggested Reading; Index
Summary 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
Notes Includes index
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Hanson, Sidney -- Trials, litigation, etc
Deskins, John -- Trials, litigation, etc
Trials (Rape) -- Virginia -- Tazewell County
LAW -- Criminal Law -- General.
HISTORY -- United States -- 19th Century.
Trials (Rape)
SUBJECT Tazewell County (Va.) -- History
Subject Virginia -- Tazewell County
Genre/Form History
Trials, litigation, etc.
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780813169545
0813169542
9780813169538
0813169534