This week on The Historians Podcast, John Sweet is author of The Sewing Girl’s Tale, the story of the first published rape trial in American history. In 1793, Lanah Sawyer, a 17-year-old seamstress, charged she had been raped. The defendant was “a very great rake,” the scion of two wealthy Dutch families who lied about his identity and took her to a brothel and sexually assaulted her. Alexander Hamilton was among the many well-connected lawyers who represented the defendant in various aspects of the case.
Sweet researched Sawyer’s decision to charge Henry Bedlow with rape, leading to a raw courtroom drama in the city of New York, riots in the streets, and public debate over class privilege and double standards.
Author John Sweet is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the former director of that university’s interdisciplinary Program in Sexuality Studies.
You can listen to the podcast here. You will find more podcasts and stories at bobcudmore.com.
For a full list of this week’s New York Almanack podcasts announcements click HERE.
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