The age of consent in Delaware in 1880 was 7 years old. In most states it was around 10 years old. Was pedophilia "normal" then? (pizzagate)

submitted ago by we_kill_creativity

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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WarGy ago

Pre-marital Sex in general was taboo back then, so age off consent laws were less relevant than they are today, because if you were fucking somebody then they were your spouse anyway.

we_kill_creativity ago

Pre-marital Sex in general was taboo back then

Is that actually true though? That's what I more or less thought too, but when I ask myself for proof of that, I don't have much. I have movies made in the 50s that seem to want me to think that, but not much else.

WarGy ago

I'm mostly going off of historical books and movies I've seen that paint this kind of picture (i.e. sex with slave women was admissible because they were seen as property rather than people, sailors were seen as taboo for their promiscuity, high class women were abstinent, etc.). The 1880's would have been around the Victorian era and the general consensus is that it was a relatively sexually reserved time. I couldn't point to any real historical evidence to confirm or deny my point, but maybe someone will come along who can.

we_kill_creativity ago

and the general consensus is that it was a relatively sexually reserved tim

Then why wasn't the age of consent 20 instead of 10?

WarGy ago

Probably just tradition, used to be you married young to start having children as soon as possible.

we_kill_creativity ago

Can 7-10 year olds have kids?

WarGy ago

Perhaps, but some people might want to wait a few years after marriage to have children. This might be a relic of people marrying two families together also.