Why the Bloody Code was Developed and Ended

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Why the Bloody Code was Developed and Ended

During the 1600's, England was changing dramatically, this in affected

many crimes and punishments. The most dramatic change was the growth

of population; this meant that with more people it was harder to find

jobs. The amount of travel increased due to improved transport links

and the development of coaches. However another change was that the

poor became poorer and the rich became richer, the government was

introducing more tax on goods as they were in need of money due to the

war. The Bloody Code saw a dramatic increase in the number of

executions. The Waltham Black Act of 1723 saw an increase in the

number of crimes punishable by death, including if anything was stolen

that was worth over 1 shilling. Apart from execution there were a

number of other punishments that could be used, such as whipping,

fines, prisons for debtors and transportation.

The Bloody Code was developed to act as a deterrent against criminals.

There were other punishments which could be used as shown above,

wasn't doing this very effectively as the number of crimes were still

rising, from an average of 50, to 160 by 1750 and to 288 by 1815.

Another reason I think the Bloody Code was developed is because

landowners had emerged from the 1600's more successful, they based

their power on the amount of property they owned, the landowners also

felt that one of the laws main priorities was to protect their

property. The crime rate was not as high during the 1700's, but they

feared that it was, as towns grew in size and the old village

community crumbled, there was also no police force that looked after

the village on a daily basis, that had been lost. The Bloody Code was

therefore a threat, people were now thinking of breaking the law by

abusing property rights, they felt they could get away with this as

there was no community police force in the community to act as another

deterrent.

Furthermore another reason the Bloody code was developed is the fact

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