PURITAN SEXUAL MORALITY
To continue...
By 1636, the Puritans of the Plymouth Colony had produced a legal cide for the punishment ot of behaviours that were deemed to be sexually immoral.
The most serious cases presented in Court at that time were those of: SODOMY; ("sodomy" basically meant male homosexuals butt-holing each other.;the Puritan had a MAJOR problem with this !!) RAPE; FORNICATION ("fornication" meant having pre-marital hetro sex); ADULTERY ('adultery" generally referred to crime of a male having sex with a married woman) and BUGGERY ( cases of "buggery" typically referred to the crime of bestiality - i.e. humans who had been charged with butt-holing animals). These behaviours all (initially) carried the death penalty, however those convicted of them were werenot usually put to death. Instead they received a variety of punishments such as: a severe whipping/s at the whipping post; being dragged topless behind a wooden cart through the community while at the dame time being continuously lashed across the back; being branded on the shoulder or some other body part with a hot iron, imprisonment; heavy fines or permanent banishment from the Colony among others.
One instance where the sentence of capital punishment was carried out was the notorious case of young Thomas Grainer whi was found guilty of....
"...buggery with a mare, a cowe, two goats, divers sheeps, two calves, and a turkey."
Thomas was hanged by the neck until dead in 1642.
Another wretch who was lucky not to receive the death sentence was one Ambrose Fish. In 1677 a case of rape was presented before the Court of Assistants in Plymouth Colony and ine, Ambrose Fish was indicted...
"...for that hee haurong not the feare of God before his eyes, did wickedly, and contrary to the order of nature....by force carnally know and rauish, Lydia Fish, the daughter of Nathaniell Fish, of Sandwich aforesaid and against her will, she being then in the peace of God and of the Kinge."
Although rape was a Capital offence, Ambrose Fish escaped the noose because two witnesses were required for the death sentence to be ordered, and in this case there was only one, Lydia Fish. Ambrose Fish was consequently sentence to a severe whipping at the post.
In 1637 a case of sodomy involving, John Alexander and Thomas Roberts reveals the disdain the Puritans felt for "unnatural male homosexual intercourse.. The text of the Court record reads as following....
"John Alexander and Thomas Roberts wereboth examined and found guilty of lewd behaviour and uncleane carriage, one with another, by often spending their seede upon one another (this means they were fucking each other up the ass and blowing their loafs in each other's butts) the said Alexander found to have been notoriously that way and seeking to allure others therevnto."
Alexander was sentenced to severe whipping and branded on the shoulder with a hot iron and to be perpetually banished from the gouernment of New Plymouth. If ever he were found again in NewPlymouth, he would be severely whipped again and so on each time he re-entered the gouernment of New Plymouth...
"ATTEMPTS and PROPOSITIONS"
The various forms of sexual misconduct above were regarded as the most serious, though there were other less grievous types of sexual misconduct tha that were still criminal offences. These included attempted fornication and propositions for fornication.
If you were a member of a Puritan community, you could find yourself in pretty serious trouble with the law even for an unsuccessful attempt to commit fornication.
Suppose you were a young man living in the Plymouth Colony in 1645. You see a a Puritan chick one day who is a real hottie and you dthink "Wow, I love to have a piece of that ass. So you decide to "try your lick." and start to chat her up. You start flirting up a storm with her and before long your hands have started to wander and you give her ass a good tweak (like a "pussy-grab" Then you grasped her by the arm and said "Let me take you to my apartment for a nice cup of tea and scone." and you began to pull her along the sidewalk towards your crib. But the girl is not stupid, she knows that you "only want one thing", and that if she goes back to your apartment you will put the "hard word" on her for a "quick and dirty" root. So she pulls her arm free from your grip and tells you to "piss off." She also says that she is going to report you to the community elders for being a sex pest. The Puritans would say that you were guilty of "uncleane carriages" because you had attempted to badger this girl into engaging in fornication (pre-marital sex), which was regarded as a form of criminal, sexual misconduct.
Here is an example from the records of the Plymouth Colony'd General Court hearings of ,1645, in the case of one, John Pecke, who was indicted on a charge of "attempted firnication."
"...laciuious carriages and vncchasre in attempting rhe chastitie of his father'd maide servant to satisfy his fleshy, beastly lust, and that many time for some years space, without any intent to matty her, but was always resisted by the mayde as he confesseth."
As punishment, John Pecke, was ordered to pay a hefty fine and received a whipping at the post.
Propositioning fornication was also an act of criminal sexual misconduct in 17th-century, Puritan New England. "Propositioning" in today's language would dimply be putting the "hard word"on a girl you fancied for a fuck. A corny version of this this might be..."Darling, why don't we - just you and I - slip away from this Ball and make sweet love under the moonlight"? Modern-day street prodtitutes often proposition potential clients by approaching them and sayong things like "Would you like some business, darling"? or "Are you ready , darling "?
There is a 1688 case recorded at the General Courts, New Plymouth of improper propositioning (fornication) where one, Richard Turtall od presented to the Court...
"...for laciuiouse carriage towardAnn Hudson, the wife of, John Hudson, in taking her by the coate and inticing her by words, as also by taking out his instrument of nature that hee might prevaile to lie with her in her iwn house."
Turtall was fined 50 shillings and whipped for his misconduct . (NB: I think Turtall big mistake was on pulling out his "instrument of nature").
CONCLUSION
I think that today' Anglo-Americans are still strongly psychologically conditioned by their 17th-century Puritan forebears, especially where matters of sexual morality are concerned. They are prone to be prudish and even quite pious. The 17th-century, New England Puritans placed a high value on moral discipline and moral purity, and as mentioned, I am sure that core elements of their world-view were passed down the generaltions by cultural/genetic mean. This is because Puritan culture of 17th-century New England was very string and powerful, and it is very reasonable to argue that it burned itself quite deeply into the consciousness of Anglo_America.
END OF PART (2) OF THIS POST. FINAL INSTALLMENT TO FOLLOW
To continue...
By 1636, the Puritans of the Plymouth Colony had produced a legal cide for the punishment ot of behaviours that were deemed to be sexually immoral.
The most serious cases presented in Court at that time were those of: SODOMY; ("sodomy" basically meant male homosexuals butt-holing each other.;the Puritan had a MAJOR problem with this !!) RAPE; FORNICATION ("fornication" meant having pre-marital hetro sex); ADULTERY ('adultery" generally referred to crime of a male having sex with a married woman) and BUGGERY ( cases of "buggery" typically referred to the crime of bestiality - i.e. humans who had been charged with butt-holing animals). These behaviours all (initially) carried the death penalty, however those convicted of them were werenot usually put to death. Instead they received a variety of punishments such as: a severe whipping/s at the whipping post; being dragged topless behind a wooden cart through the community while at the dame time being continuously lashed across the back; being branded on the shoulder or some other body part with a hot iron, imprisonment; heavy fines or permanent banishment from the Colony among others.
One instance where the sentence of capital punishment was carried out was the notorious case of young Thomas Grainer whi was found guilty of....
"...buggery with a mare, a cowe, two goats, divers sheeps, two calves, and a turkey."
Thomas was hanged by the neck until dead in 1642.
Another wretch who was lucky not to receive the death sentence was one Ambrose Fish. In 1677 a case of rape was presented before the Court of Assistants in Plymouth Colony and ine, Ambrose Fish was indicted...
"...for that hee haurong not the feare of God before his eyes, did wickedly, and contrary to the order of nature....by force carnally know and rauish, Lydia Fish, the daughter of Nathaniell Fish, of Sandwich aforesaid and against her will, she being then in the peace of God and of the Kinge."
Although rape was a Capital offence, Ambrose Fish escaped the noose because two witnesses were required for the death sentence to be ordered, and in this case there was only one, Lydia Fish. Ambrose Fish was consequently sentence to a severe whipping at the post.
In 1637 a case of sodomy involving, John Alexander and Thomas Roberts reveals the disdain the Puritans felt for "unnatural male homosexual intercourse.. The text of the Court record reads as following....
"John Alexander and Thomas Roberts wereboth examined and found guilty of lewd behaviour and uncleane carriage, one with another, by often spending their seede upon one another (this means they were fucking each other up the ass and blowing their loafs in each other's butts) the said Alexander found to have been notoriously that way and seeking to allure others therevnto."
Alexander was sentenced to severe whipping and branded on the shoulder with a hot iron and to be perpetually banished from the gouernment of New Plymouth. If ever he were found again in NewPlymouth, he would be severely whipped again and so on each time he re-entered the gouernment of New Plymouth...
"ATTEMPTS and PROPOSITIONS"
The various forms of sexual misconduct above were regarded as the most serious, though there were other less grievous types of sexual misconduct tha that were still criminal offences. These included attempted fornication and propositions for fornication.
If you were a member of a Puritan community, you could find yourself in pretty serious trouble with the law even for an unsuccessful attempt to commit fornication.
Suppose you were a young man living in the Plymouth Colony in 1645. You see a a Puritan chick one day who is a real hottie and you dthink "Wow, I love to have a piece of that ass. So you decide to "try your lick." and start to chat her up. You start flirting up a storm with her and before long your hands have started to wander and you give her ass a good tweak (like a "pussy-grab" Then you grasped her by the arm and said "Let me take you to my apartment for a nice cup of tea and scone." and you began to pull her along the sidewalk towards your crib. But the girl is not stupid, she knows that you "only want one thing", and that if she goes back to your apartment you will put the "hard word" on her for a "quick and dirty" root. So she pulls her arm free from your grip and tells you to "piss off." She also says that she is going to report you to the community elders for being a sex pest. The Puritans would say that you were guilty of "uncleane carriages" because you had attempted to badger this girl into engaging in fornication (pre-marital sex), which was regarded as a form of criminal, sexual misconduct.
Here is an example from the records of the Plymouth Colony'd General Court hearings of ,1645, in the case of one, John Pecke, who was indicted on a charge of "attempted firnication."
"...laciuious carriages and vncchasre in attempting rhe chastitie of his father'd maide servant to satisfy his fleshy, beastly lust, and that many time for some years space, without any intent to matty her, but was always resisted by the mayde as he confesseth."
As punishment, John Pecke, was ordered to pay a hefty fine and received a whipping at the post.
Propositioning fornication was also an act of criminal sexual misconduct in 17th-century, Puritan New England. "Propositioning" in today's language would dimply be putting the "hard word"on a girl you fancied for a fuck. A corny version of this this might be..."Darling, why don't we - just you and I - slip away from this Ball and make sweet love under the moonlight"? Modern-day street prodtitutes often proposition potential clients by approaching them and sayong things like "Would you like some business, darling"? or "Are you ready , darling "?
There is a 1688 case recorded at the General Courts, New Plymouth of improper propositioning (fornication) where one, Richard Turtall od presented to the Court...
"...for laciuiouse carriage towardAnn Hudson, the wife of, John Hudson, in taking her by the coate and inticing her by words, as also by taking out his instrument of nature that hee might prevaile to lie with her in her iwn house."
Turtall was fined 50 shillings and whipped for his misconduct . (NB: I think Turtall big mistake was on pulling out his "instrument of nature").
CONCLUSION
I think that today' Anglo-Americans are still strongly psychologically conditioned by their 17th-century Puritan forebears, especially where matters of sexual morality are concerned. They are prone to be prudish and even quite pious. The 17th-century, New England Puritans placed a high value on moral discipline and moral purity, and as mentioned, I am sure that core elements of their world-view were passed down the generaltions by cultural/genetic mean. This is because Puritan culture of 17th-century New England was very string and powerful, and it is very reasonable to argue that it burned itself quite deeply into the consciousness of Anglo_America.
END OF PART (2) OF THIS POST. FINAL INSTALLMENT TO FOLLOW