Male-Male Intimacy in Early America

by William Benemann

Previously hard-to-find information on homosexuality in early Americanow in a convenient single volume!

Few of us are familiar with the gay men on General Washington’s staff or among the leaders of the new republic. Now, in the same way that Alex Haley’s Roots provided a generation of African Americans with an appreciation of their history, Male-Male Intimacy in Early Beyond Romantic Friendships will give many gay readers their first glimpse of homosexuality as a theme in early American history.

Honored as a 2007 Stonewall Book Award nonfiction selection, Male-Male Intimacy in Early America is the first book to provide a comprehensive overview of the role of homosexual activity among American men in the early years of American history. This single source brings together information that has until now been widely scattered in journals and distant archives. The book draws on personal letters, diaries, court records, and contemporary publications to examine the role of homosexual activity in the lives of American men in the Colonial period and in the early years of the new republic. The author scoured research that was published in contemporary journals and also conducted his own research in over a dozen US archives, ranging from the Library of Congress to the Huntington Library, from the United Military Academy Archives to the Missouri Historical Society.

Male-Male Intimacy in Early America Author William Benemann rejects Foucault’s contention that homosexuality is an artificial construct created by medico-legal authorities in the latter half of the nineteenth century. He recognizes that men have been sexually attracted to other men throughout American history, and in this book, examines their historical options for expressing that attraction. He also addresses related issues surrounding race and gender expectations, population and migration patterns, vocational choice, and information exchange. Written in a straightforward style that can easily be understood by lay readers, Male-Male Intimacy in Early America is an ideal choice for educators, students, and individuals interested in this unexplored area of American history and sexuality studies.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Queer, LGBT, American History, United States, 19th Century

Paperback

First published March 10, 2006

Reviews

[George Ilsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Rare is the traveller who does not speak with disdain of the American custom of having complete strangers share beds in wayside inns or rented lodgings." But what actually went on in those shared beds? Benemann refers to Herman Melville, particularly in the novel Redburn, for his portrayal of what appear to be gay or homosexual characters (important note: we are looking at a time when words such as gay and homosexual were not in use or perhaps even imagined as a concept).

In terms of sharing beds, Benemann surprisingly does not mention the famous opening pages of Moby Dick, wherein Ismael encounters the harpooneer Queequeg and they sleep together. "Upon waking next morning about daylight, I found Queequeg's arm thrown over me in the most loving and affectionate manner. You had almost thought I had been his wife." Later, Queequeg declares that they have been married and gives Ismael half his money. Indeed, in Moby Dick, after sharing the bed the two men were bonded.

Benemann's delectable book is a queer mixture of scholarship and gossip; one part literary analysis (breathing life into dandies and fops), one part academic research, and stirs in a good dollop of speculation. The resulting concoction is surprisingly refreshing.

[Susanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off, this book does NOT try to see "Reds under the beds" everywhere. Just because two men are standing next to each other doesn't mean they were intimate. However, if you have a letter from one man to another where he fondly remembers their being "writhing bedfellows" or where one man says he'd like to show his love to another in actions rather than words, the author (and I agree) takes this as evidence of male-male intimacy. And it is found in the most astounding places!

This is a look into a foreign world, where the word "homosexual" did not yet exist, and how men who knew they were different tried to navigate it.

Fans of social history would also enjoy the way the book depicts the reality of frontier life.

Oh, and Philadelphians - your town ROCKED back in the early Federal period.

[Daria · Rating 5 out of 5]

An illuminating history research mostly about "vice which should be left in the dark" (quote from page 38), with a bonus of author's dry humour. I was delighted to discover a whole chapter devoted to the story of Friedrich von Steuben in America, with added story of his former aide-de-camps, Benjamin Walker and William North.

[Rebecca Dupont · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very informative about time period opinions, habits and expectations in community and in areas like the military or pioneer relating to male/male relationships and intimacy. A few times the author went off on tangents that took awhile to relate back to the main topics.

However, there was a great deal of specific examples of male couples such as William North and Benjamin Walker; William Writ and Dabney Carr; particular people like Baron von Steuben, James Thomson Callender. I also really enjoyed the thoroughness of the chapters relating to the army and navy, the frontier, slavery and Philadelphia. He also goes into interesting topics like gender non conformity.

Overall a very informative book with information about general societal behavior backed up with specific individuals.

[Terry Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The scholarship (i.e., research, notes, bibliography) is very good, but the author missed the target a little. The title is deceiving, as is much of the text. Even the blurb on the back cover ("This unique book provides a comprehensive overview of the role of male homosexuality in the early years of American history") gives potential readers the impression that author Benemann has some solid, new research to present on male-male sexual relationships in early America. The author spends a lot of time speculating whether certain friendships between men throughout history had a sexual side, and that's the problem. Most of it is speculation. I did learn something new and interesting about Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben and his role in early America. The middle school I attended was named after him, and I always wondered who he was.

The entirety of chapter 2 (male friendships in Europe) and the first two thirds of chapter 3 (drunkenness and flogging) have nothing to do with same-sex relationships in North America. The same can be said for chapter 10, which discusses cross-dressing as part of the Boston Tea Party.

I was bothered by the author's lack of distinguishing between restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses (i.e., that and which, respectively), and the author overreaches at times with his use of ten-dollar words. Otherwise, I take my hat off to William Benemann for tackling a subject that has so little written history associated with it.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a lot of American history in this book that I never learned in school, and not all of it has to do with homosexuality. For instance, I learned to be grateful that my Maryland ancestors were next door to Philadelphia and not New England. I can see the more liberal attitudes of the "City of Brotherly Love" in my own family, including the "old folks."

Interesting stuff about Mormons too. They redefined marriage in more ways than one, and Joseph Smith interpreted the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as condemning the sin of inhospitality, not anal sex.

And if anyone is still unclear on the concept, America was not founded as a Christian nation. Multiple proofs here.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lively and and wide-ranging account of homoerotic aspects of early American culture and life. I was drawn to this book by a factoid I came across during the recent debates over gays in the military, that suggested Gen. von Steuben, who famously trained the Continental Army at Valley Forge, was gay. I was not disappointed, as the book does spend the better part of a chapter discussing this very issue. I will however only give the book three stars, as it could have benefited from more skillful editing. A number of his conclusions seem to be either somewhat implausible or not well supported by the facts he presents. One example is an instance where he takes an account of soldiers worshipping the goddess of the tolet while drunk on cider as a possible reference to homoerotic activity. Considering cider's well-known diarrhea-inducing properties, this seems to be an unlikely and rather silly claim. But most of these instances could have been fixed if he had simply been a little more circumspect in his language. The book does cover somewhat more ground than its title would suggest. Chapters delve into the psychosexual aspects of corporal punishment and higlight the homoerotic content in the literature of the day. While these discussions are interesting in themselves, this takes the reader beyond what they might initally expect. But, in general, this is a highly readable account of aspects of American history you most certainly were never taught in school.

[Karen]

* Understanding Oppression: African American Rights (Then and Now)

Few of us are familiar with the gay men on General Washington's staff or among the leaders of the new republic. Now, in the same way that Alex Haley's Roots provided a generation of African Americans with an appreciation of their history, Male-Male Intimacy in Early America: Beyond Romantic Friendships will give many gay readers their first glimpse of #homosexuality as a theme in early American history.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting. I learned a lot.