Punishment In Ancient Egypt, Edo Japan And Stuart England

Punishments as a result of crime have changed in many societies, directly reflecting society’s views. Religion, classes and governments are examples of aspects that lead to change in punishments. Ancient Egypt, Edo Japan and Stuart England are eras whereby changing various societal views led to punishments themselves being modified.

The Edo Japan period, from 1603-1867, had a violent outlook towards the treatment of their criminals. The Tokugawa shogunate, the last feudal Japanese military government, maintained execution grounds for Edo, and also carried out many of the punishments inflicted on the perpetrators. The death penalty was a direct result of murder and arson. The shogun executed in various ways as seen in source a- these include

Following the concept of Ma’at, the law was based on a common view of right and wrong. Ma’at was a goddess that represented truth, order and balance in the universe. They also served the pharaoh, who was at the very top of the social hierarchy, a god, obtaining absolute political power. When ancient Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, decades passed and it officially became a Christian nation. With more and more people embracing Christianity, the government modified the punishments to be less severe. Similar to present time, social class does not determine what type of punishment you get, ensuring a fairer society. However, contrary to ancient Egyptian time, punishments and crime in the modern world are not influenced by religion, but rather laws and

Life for the poor was difficult, which often led to the life of crime in order to support their family. For example, the punishment for stealing anything worth over one shilling (roughly $4.10 today) was punished by hanging. A gossip was made to wear a scold’s bridle, which was a metal cage that went over the head- this was socially degrading. Guillotines were used on most of the criminals found guilty of carrying out crimes such as theft, murder, rape, arson etc. When the Puritans won the civil war, they implemented strange punishments. If a man were to disagree with the Puritan religion, soldiers would sell his furniture and sent servants to dig up every tree in his orchard. If a woman were to swear more than 7 rude words, she was fined 12 shillings. If a maid mended a dress on a Sunday, she would sit in the stocks for 3