Sex and Sexuality in Early America

Published by New York University Press 1998

Sex and Sexuality in Early America

Edited by: Merril D. Smith

https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814729410.001.0001

Overview
Contents

About this book

What role did sexual assault play in the conquest of America? How did American attitudes toward female sexuality evolve, and how was sexuality regulated in the early Republic?
Sex and sexuality have always been the subject of much attention, both scholarly and popular. Yet, accounts of the early years of the United States tend to overlook the importance of their influence on the shaping of American culture. Sex and Sexuality in Early America addresses this neglected topic with original research covering a wide spectrum, from sexual behavior to sexual perceptions and imagery. Focusing on the period between the initial contact of Europeans and Native Americans up to 1800, the essays encompass all of colonial North America, including the Caribbean and Spanish territories.
Challenging previous assumptions, these essays address such topics as rape as a tool of conquest; perceptions and responses to Native American sexuality; fornication, bastardy, celibacy, and religion in colonial New England; gendered speech in captivity narratives; representations of masculinity in eighteenth- century seduction tales, the sexual cosmos of a southern planter, and sexual transgression and madness in early American fiction. The contributors include Stephanie Wood, Gordon Sayre, Steven Neuwirth, Else L. Hambleton, Erik R. Seeman, Richard Godbeer, Trevor Burnard, Natalie A. Zacek, Wayne Bodle, Heather Smyth, Rodney Hessinger, and Karen A. Weyler.

Author / Editor information

Smith Merril D. :

Merril D. Smith is the editor of Sex and Sexuality in Early America and Breaking the Bonds: Marital Discord in Pennsylvania, 1730-1830. She lives in National Park, New Jersey.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction: Perceptions and Realities Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART I: European/Native American Contact, 1492-1710
1 Sexual Violation in the Conquest of the Americas Stephanie Wood Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
2 Native American Sexuality in the Eyes of the Beholders 1535-1710 Gordon Sayre Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
3 Her Master's Voice: Gender, Speech, and Gendered Speech in the Narrative of the Captivity of Mary White Rowlandson Steven Neuwirth Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
PART II: Regulating Sex and Sexuality in Colonial New England
4 The Regulation of Sex in Seventeenth-Century Massachusetts: The Quarterly Court of Essex County vs. Priscilla Willson and Mr. Samuel Appleton Else L. Hambleton Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	87
5 Sarah Prentice and the Immortalists: Sexuality, Piety, and the Body in Eighteenth-Century New England Erik R. Seeman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	116
PART III: Race, Sex, and Social Control in the Chesapeake and Caribbean in the Eighteenth Century
6 William Byrd's "Flourish": The Sexual Cosmos of a Southern Planter Richard Godbeer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	133
7 The Sexual Life of an Eighteenth-Century Jamaican Slave Overseer Trevor Burnard Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
8 Sex, Sexuality, and Social Control in the Eighteenth- Century Leeward Islands Natalie A. Zacek Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	190
PART IV: Images of Masculinity, Femininity, and Sexuality in the Eighteenth Century
9 Soldiers in Love: Patrolling the Gendered Frontiers of the Early Republic Wayne Bodle Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
10 "Imperfect Disclosures": Cross-Dressing and Containment in Charles Brockden Brown's Ormond Heather Smyth Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	240
11 "Insidious Murderers of Female Innocence": Representations of Masculinity in the Seduction Tales of the Late Eighteenth Century Rodney Hessinger Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	262
12 "The Fruit of Unlawful Embraces": Sexual Transgression and Madness in Early American Sentimental Fiction Karen A. Weyler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	283
Selected Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	315
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	337

Language: English
Publisher: New York University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;

eBook

Published: March 24, 2022
ISBN: 9780814729410