By Birth or Consent

In mid-sixteenth-century England, people were born into authority and responsibility based on their social status. By the late eighteenth century, however, English and American law began to emphasize contractual relations based on informed consent rather than on birth status. Holly Brewer explores how the changing legal status of children illuminates the debates over consent and status in England and America. The struggle over meaningful consent affected the whole order of society. As it emerged through religious, political, and legal debates, the concept of meaningful consent challenged the older order of birthright and became central to the development of democratic political theory.