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In ''Rape and Sexual Power in Early America'', Sharon Block provides a comprehensive analysis of rape accusations and prosecutions from approximately 1700-1820. Block examined more than 900 documented incidents of "sexual coercion" to illustrate the dynamics of sexual power in play in British North America. According to Block, definitions of rape or assault were more frequently based on the identities of the parties involved. Through her analysis of these documents, Block argues that the way official persecuted these infractions worked to preserve the social, racial, gender, and political hierarchies of early North America.
6. Clare A. Lyons, ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807856754/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807856754&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=c9a91d75d983f3d56ce7ae29c4a74149 Sex Among the Rabble: An Intimate History of Gender and Power in the Age of Revolution, Philadelphia, 1730-1830]'', (University of North Carolina Press, 2006).
In this fascinating book, Lyons centers her analysis on the sexual practices of "the rabble," and explores the limits of freedom and individualism. Like Block, Lyons argues that sex and gender were crucial to reconstituting social hierarchies.
