The Senator vs. the Schoolteacher

Sex scandals were nothing new to American politics, whether it was Thomas Jefferson keeping a slave as his mistress or Sen. Dan Sickles of New York shooting his wife’s lover in cold blood across the street from the White House. Sometimes, however, the scandal exposed a double standard in American laws. Sickles was acquitted by an all-male jury and remained in office even after confessing.

But by the mid-1800s, things were changing. Women were demanding more rights and standing up for them, such as Susan B.