according to a PBS documentary about the life of john marshall of u.s. supreme court fame, he first met the 'girl' who was to become his wife of about 1/2 a century when she was 'almost 14' and he, a revolutionary war veteran, was about 12 years older. according to his wikipedia article, he very quickly began courting her, and they married less than 2 years later when she was 15, he 27. they had 10 children in all, only 6 of whom lived to adulthood, and his wife polly also had at least 2 miscarriages, which together with losing some infants while she was in her 20s adversely affected her health for the rest of her life. according to the doc., when she died, marshall was very bereft, strongly suggesting their union had been very happy and fulfilling while it lasted.
they weren't 'white trash' virginians. from prominent families, she was the daughter of the state treasurer, he, the first cousin of future president and famous author of the declaration of independence, thomas jefferson. so apparently it was considered perfectly ok for ladies as young as 13 to be seriously pursued or courted by a considerably older man, and to marry very young.
my, how attitudes have changed regarding the propriety of 'adults' courting and even marrying 'children'. nowadays a prince can be dethroned for the apparent transgression of having had sex with an underage 'girl' of 17 when he was considerably older. these bare boned facts form the basis for the public outrage / scandal that has at times been headline news in recent years regarding prince andrew, which forced his older brother the king to very recently basically disown him. granted, there were other aggravating circumstances involving the young lady who alleged she was his victim, that she had been 'trafficked' into becoming an under age escort to a very prominent clientele of alleged intelligence agent jeffrey epstein, andrew's fellow 'pedophile'.
u may have noticed that i've placed quote marks around certain words above, indicating my disagreement or questioning of their propriety. for example, i think the same thinking that scientists use to distinguish adults from juveniles in the so called animal kingdom should also apply to us humans. i think the fact that 'laws' have been made which arbitrarily choose some age past puberty as the time when children become adults is simply reflective of the way modern governments, while claiming to uphold freedom and virtue, are in fact becoming more oppressive and orwellian in their control.
i think it is perfectly natural and healthy and that it should be perfectly legal for post pubescent 'children' to be viewed and treated like young adults, including in matters of eros.
nature doesn't play games. none of us know if we'll live to see tomorro. to live as though it's guaranteed is foolish. to deny youth the rights and expectations of adulthood, including in intimate matters, is to demand of them they postpone such pursuits for years beyond the time nature has determined it's time to be and act like an adult. to have kids and marry (maybe not in that order) if they wish. to seize the day, carpe diem. to suppress that is to steal something precious and irreplaceable, as we only get one life, one youth, and it must/ should never be forgotten that tomorro isn't guaranteed.
of course, not only youth are adversely affected by overbearing laws and attitudes which rob them of erotic autonomy, among other things. had john marshall been born 200 years later he couldn't have courted and married a 'girl' in her middle teens when he was 12 years older. to try to do so would invite the full wrath and heavy hand of not only the almighty government but of a public brainwashed to regard such a thing as an abomination and marshall as a disgusting predatory pervert pedophile!
of course, marshall would have known better than to try such a thing had he been born in 1955, instead of 1755. it's prohibition saturated pop culture, like in the lyrics of this hit song from 1968:
Young girl, get out of my mind
My love for you is way out of line
Better run, girl
You're much too young, girl
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap - Young Girl - HQ
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