Harsh Punishments
Punishments in colonial days were a lot harsher than they are today. There were extreme punishments for minor things like lying, name calling, or rude comments. In colonial times there ideas of punishments were different than ours. They didn't use a jail very often, but instead punished them publicly to shame them. Some of their not so pleasant punishments were to whip you, put you in the stock, which meant that people could throw things at you all day long, or burn your crime onto your hand. If the criminal stole the formidable punishments could become as extreme as a hanging, for things as small as taking a silly silver spoon!. Although punishments for woman and children
were a tiny bit less cruel, they were still pretty harsh. If a young woman didn't obey her husband she would be tied to a stool and dunked publicly in the river! Schoolmasters had the authority to punish the kids in school. He or she could whip them if he deemed their unruly actions deserved it. Also if he caught kids in school jabbering quietly with each other he would take out the whispering stick and force it into their mouths, it would stay their for the rest of the day. Even though punishments in colonial days were extremely harsh they kept the law and order of the colonies vehemently maintained.
In colonial America, the court structure was quite different from that of their mother country, Great Britain. The system was a triangle of overlapping courts and common law. Common law was largely influenced by the moral code from the King James Version of the Bible, also known as moral law. In effect, these early American societies were theocratic and autocratic containing religious leaders, as well as magistrates. Sometimes these men were even one and the same. The criminal acts in colonial America were actually very similar to the crime prevalent in our society today. However, certain infractions were taken more seriously. Through the documents provided, we get a look at different crimes and their subsequent punishments in colonial
Phelps, Brian. "Crime and Punishment in the Massachusetts Colonies." Crime and Punishment in the Massachusetts Colonies. PhelpsTek, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013. .
Physical abuse by plantation owners towards both their servants and slaves was common. One account by Thomas Gates in a General Court of Colonial Virginia document about Elizabeth Abbot, an indentured servant, stated that “she had been sore beaten and her body full of sores and holes very dangerously raunckled and putrified both above her wast and uppon her hips and thighs” (General Court of Colonial Virginia). In fact, such abuse towards servants and slaves was so common that the state of Virginia had to make laws for such cases. Unfortunately, colonial governments did not consider corporal punishment illegal. Thus adding to the brutality endured by persons in captivity and servitude during the colonial era. “Moderate corporal punishment inflicted
In the Antebellum Era, America undergos many reforms including a reform in their prison system. Imprisonment had been use rarely to punish criminals. Prisons were commonly used to incarcerate people being accused and awaiting for trials and debtors that had to pay their creditors. They did not want people to run away. Authorities did not used prison sentences for criminals, they enforced fines or inflict physical pain such as branding iron or pillory. Anyone convicted of a serious crime would receive extreme penalties such execution or banishment.
The Elizabethan era lasted from 1558 through 1603. In American history, this time period is known as the golden age because during this England became much more of a wealthy nation. In this era, the nation was able to invest in arts and exploration. Many writers and poets, such as Shakespeare, shaped the ways of theatre and literature. This era is also vastly known for its ways of handling crime and punishment. In the Elizabethan era, unsparing, common crime and punishment flourished for reasons fluctuating because of social class, gender, religion, and the satisfaction of antiquated torture devices.
Which truly is a horrible punishment, comparing to the convicts there had been some boundaries that were made for their punishment. Also with the work they did, could at times be similar but was mostly not the same, and the most similar thing for both of them would be the transportation of them from place to place. Summing it all up, the slaves had it that bit more harsher for the reason of they would be treated with no care what so ever, always having the possibility of doing something wrong could cause them to
Today some people can get away with just about any small crime with no punishments, but in the Elizabethan era you'd think twice before committing a crime. For stealing fruit in the Elizabethan era you can lose your hand. Today you would get community service or some other small punishment. The punishment you were given had to do with the crime, your wealth, and who you were connected to.
The lesson is situated in the fourth week, and is the eleventh and second last lesson in the unit outline.
During seventeenth century flogging was a popular punishment for convicted people among Boston's Puritans. Fortunately, those times have passed and brutal and inhuman flogging was replaced by imprisonment. Columnist for the Boston Globe, Jeff Jacoby in his essay "Bring back flogging" asserts that flogging is superior to imprisonment and advocates flogging as an excellent means of punishment. He is convinced that flogging of offenders after their first conviction can prevent them from going into professional criminal career and has more educational value than imprisonment. He also argues that being imprisoned is more dangerous than being whipped, because the risk of being beaten, raped, or murdered in prison is terrifying high. Unfortunately, Jeff Jacoby made some faulty assumptions and his article "Bring back flogging" is filled with misconceptions.
Others had the Achilles tendon cut; worst of all, some were killed. Not only were these punishments given if they tried to escape, but the punishments that may have been given if they tried to escape where nothing compared to what could have been done just to keep the slaves in check. On a few accounts, owners in Virginia, would smoke their slaves like meat. Another master would nail the slaves in a box with the nails sticking out and toss them off a steep hill so that they would hit the nails as they went down. These are only a few examples of what could have happened.
Punishment occurs to individuals who break the law. It is also used to maintain the level of crime and to protect community members in Australia. To determine that society is content with maintaining the crime rate, this essay will discuss punishment types given to offenders and how society justifies the use punishment. Additionally, providing a brief overview of the community correction and prions rates to show that communities prefer to incarcerate lawbreakers. Highlighting that crime rates are being maintained by looking at the personal crime rate for assault before concluding that Australian society feel safe enough to allow the criminal justice system to sustain the crime rate.
“The traveller was thinking: it is always questionable to intervene decisively in strange circumstances. He was neither a citizen of the penal colony nor of the citizen of the state to which it belonged. If he wanted to condemn the execution or even hinder it, people could say to him: You are a foreigner-keep quiet. He would have nothing in response to that…” (Kafka 9). In In the Penal Colony the traveller was invited to witness an execution and provide his opinion. However, he is not aware of the influence that is opinion has. Travellers are used to observe societies, without directly altering them. He arrives at the penal colony unaware of it’s political state.. The passing of a leader, and the induction of a New Commandant has caused tension.
"Today's system, where imprisonment is a common penalty for most crimes, is a historical newcomer." Many crimes during 1718 and 1776 were punishable by death. This was usually done by hanging, sometimes by stoning, breaking on the rack and burning at the stake. Towards the end of the 1700's people realized that cruel punishment did little to reduce crime and their society was changing the population grew and people started to move around more frequently. There had to be a search for new punishments. "New punishments were to rely heavily on new ideas imported from Europe in the writing of such social thinkers of the Enlightenment as the baron de Montesquieu, Voltaire, Thomas Pain and Cesare Beccaria". These thinkers came to believe that criminals could be rehabilitated."
The use of prison as a form of punishment began to become popular in the early 19th century. This was because transportation to colonies had started to decrease; transportation was the removing of an individual, in this case an offender, from its country to another country; usually for a period of seven to ten years and in some cases for ever. During this time prison was now being used as a means for punishment, this was in response to the declining of transportation to colonies. Thus, instead of transporting offenders to other colonies they were now being locked away behind high walls of the prison. Coyle (2005). To say whether using prison as a form of punishment has aid in the quest of tackling the crime problem one must first consider the purposes of the prison.
People a few years ago,thought of the only way to punish someone who did a