Here is a link to a page that has a table of American and European ages of consent going back to 1880: https://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/case-studies/230?section=primarysources&source=24
I was completely shocked to find that most states had their age of consent set at 10 in 1880, and, as I said in the title, Delaware had it at 7 years old. Europe was similar. What was going on back then? I can understand that people tended to get married younger in the past, but 7-10 years old!?
Was pedophilia "normal" back then? Also, don't be surprised if the people pushing for it to be normalized today use this to make their agenda seem more palatable.
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Queen_Puabi ago
I didn't know this. Helps me understand my ancestry a little better although the family story is still a bit sick and twisted.
My Great Great Grandmother, Julia Howerton, was traded at 10 yrs old for 40 acres to an older man named Elijah (Lige) David Robinson. Julia married at 10 and had her first child at 12. There were 3 children in total, one named Sarah, died young.
When Julia was 17/18 she tied my Great Grandmother (Ethel Robinson) and Great Uncle (Lonny Robinson) to a tree and told them to take care of each other and ran off. I can't imagine living back then and being treated as property. Julia had no rights to her children and her only escape was to leave them behind.
My Great Grandmother Ethel and Great Uncle Lonny were taken care of by the Robinson family. Elijah Lige Robinson remarried. I have found my Great Uncle living with Elijah Robinson's brother working on a farm at 16, but nothing else in the census.
Flash forward to many years later and my Great Grandmother Ethel decides to hunt her real mother down. (Lonny never saw his mother again) She ends up visiting in South Dakota where Julia now lives and had remarried to a George Anderson. She says that Julia is very cold toward her (she stayed a week-her and her husband) and that she was dark complexion (possibly 1/2 Native American?) and how she found out she was traded to an older man for 40 acres.
So far, I have had no luck finding Julia's real parents or lineage yet or figuring out what 40 acres she was traded for. They say Elijah worked on the railroad but that's all the info I have. Sad family history...
hedy ago
Fascinating history - a tough research, no doubt. Speaking of trading people as property - have you read The American Slave Coast? Parts of it are being challenged as factual but overall, it's the most stunning piece on the slave trade I've ever read. It covers in astonishing detail the specific economics of the slave trade (which was what the Civil War was really about - not the inhumanity of slave ownership) and how family lineages were completely destroyed - namely for females at incredibly young ages, just as with your GG Grandmother. Once they were traded/owned, they lost their father's names and the lineage was severed forever and were often separated from their children. What was also remarkable to me was that there were just a few differences between the slaves and many white women back then.
Queen_Puabi ago
I haven't read it, but I will look into it. My ancestors were share croppers in Arkansas and Oklahoma, some moving west to California during the dust bowl like in Grapes of Wrath for a better life. I would love to know more about the history of my GG Grandmother's time to know what possibly would have caused her family to trade her for land. What was happening at that time in 1880s that was so bad to trade one of your own children for land. Perhaps her parents were gone and someone else was caring for her? I hope to find out one day. Thank you!
hedy ago
I hope you do as well - fascinating story.
we_kill_creativity ago
I obviously have no info regarding your family's history, but...
A lot of people came to America to escaping absolute economic poverty. Who know's the demons they were running from, and if, perhaps, those demons shaped their general life view.