Deflowering History: An Examination of Rape, Slavery, and the University of Virginia

Abstract

On April 22, 1850, three university students allegedly perpetrated the rape of a 17-year-old enslaved girl. Historic scholarship argues that the three students were promptly expelled. Drawing on extensive study of archives and historical works, this Capstone argues that the sexual assault of an enslaved 17-year-old would have been unremarkable at the time and attempts to prove the students were not expelled for rape. The question is asked: What are the verifiable dynamics of the sexual assault of an enslaved woman at the University of Virginia and the subsequent impacts of its documentation in historical scholarship?