Sodomy law: Plymouth, November 15, 1636
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In the earliest codification of laws in colonial America, Plymouth, founded sixteen years earlier, included eight offenses punishable by death:[1]
Treason or rebellion against the person of the King, State, or Common Wealth, either of England or these Colonies.
- Willfull Murder.
- Solemn compaction or conversing with the devil by way of witchcraft, conjuration or the like.
- Willfull and purposed burning of ships houses.
- Sodomy, rapes, buggery.
- Adultery to be punished.
This Plymouth law was next revised in 1671.
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References
Article adapted from Jonathan Ned Katz, Gay/Lesbian Almanac (NY: Harper & Row, 1983) p. 74.
- ↑ David Pulsifer, ed. Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, Laws. 1623-1628 (Boston: Wm. White, 1861), vol. II, p. 12.
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