Jefferson raped at least one of his slaves and she bore six of his children.
The historians debate the nature of his relationship with Hemmings. While most agree now on evidence of the paternity, I think the rape part remains conjectural.
Edit: fucking auto-correct
I think the issue would be the impossibility of mutual consent in a sexual relationship with someone you own.
I get that. I'd be reluctant to jump into that issue with a narrative of Tom and Sally and their deep mutual romantic love. If rape is defined as a sex act with any sort of coercion, vs the older definition as a violent assault, then Echo may be right.
We're discussing it in 2020, not in the 18th or early 19th centuries, Barton.
Would you like to discuss whether slavery was all right then, since our view of it was different then? Was Columbus' conduct not problematic in your opinion? Have you shifted to moral relativism, depending on in which century the events took place?
2. In law, the carnal knowledge of a woman forcibly and against her will.
~One definition of rape in Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary.
You want to focus on forcible and debate if she was forced or not, insisting that it was a loving relationship?! And that she had the "will" to go along with it?
Do you think it started that way, even if it
did end that way (which is quite debatable)?