ABSTRACT
In 1803, a sailor who went by several names, including William Morris, offered a unique defense when brought before a naval court. Morris had been arrested as a deserter. Desertion was a serious crime, especially in a military force always desperate for sailors. The Articles of War gave courts martial the power to hang sailors for it. Morris, however, rejected the basis for the entire trial, claiming to be neither male nor female and therefore not subject to the court’s jurisdiction. The following documents offer two accounts of this case. First come the trial records, which show that Morris claimed “I am not a man” as a defense, telling the court that shipmates could prove that the sailor was unable to have penetrative sex with women – apparently evidence for Morris’s claim not to be male.
