Taming Lust: Crimes Against Nature in the Early Republic

In 1796, as revolutionary fervor waned and the Age of Reason took hold, an eighty—five—year—old Massachusetts doctor was convicted of bestiality and sentenced to hang. Three years later and seventy miles away, an eighty—three—year—old Connecticut farmer was convicted of the same crime and sentenced to the same punishment. Prior to these criminal trials, neither Massachusetts nor Connecticut had executed anyone for bestiality in over a century. Though there are no overt connections between t...