9/17/19 discussion about age of consent laws since the 1500s

Here is the link to my September 17, 2019, Twitter thread discussion about some of my ideas about the history of age of consent laws in the US and UK since the 1500s.

When I started researching the history of age of consent laws in 2016 or so, my initial feeling was that age of consent laws were property laws -- essentially saying that kids were the property of their parents until they could become the property of the state, and that their sexuality was part of the definition of their existence as property.

This thread explores that idea, going back to the 1500s, in order to raise a question I still feel is important. As, in the US and UK, access to wealth was increased across the population, were age of consent laws made and modified in order to control the way people in those regions generated and used wealth and property?

I haven't explored this question as much as I'd like over the past couple years. But I still think this is a valid question.

Thank you for reading. Please enjoy.