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Sex Without Consent: Rape and Sexual Coercion in America. Edited by Merril D. Smith. New York University Press, New York, 2001, 308 pp., $19.50 (paper), $60.00 (cloth).
This edited volume includes several papers by historians discussing legal codes and practices relating to coercive sexual activities in the United States in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. One paper deals with Native Americans in Canada in the 1600s. Another chapter analyzes rape laws in upper Canada from 1791 to 1850. Three additional chapters discuss coercive sex in the United States in the 1800s. Two chapters relate to the early twentieth century, and two more address late twentieth century issues. The book provides some very interesting examples of early legal standards for prosecuting rape charges and charges of child sexual abuse in the United States. These chapters are carefully documented with references to specific legal cases and other sources from the relevant time period. Historians of the United States and Canada should find this book of interest. The topic of rape and coercive sex is rarely considered in historical analyses. The book may, however, be disappointing for the nonhistorian. For the nonspecialist, this book suffers from a lack of integration across the various chapters. Not enough historical context is provided for the various time periods and regions, making it difficult for the nonhistorian to understand the underlying cultural framework. It would have been very helpful if at least part of the book were devoted to an analysis of the similarities across state laws and of the differences, with some attention to why such differences might have existed. The two chapters at the end of the book, dealing with more current issues, seemed out of place and unrelated to the rest of the book. The rationale for the selection of the particular chapters was never clear.
As discussed by Smith in the Introduction, each of the individual papers can be analyzed in terms...