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The 18th century represented a period in criminal history known today as the bloody codes, over the course of the 1700’s the death penalty became the standard punishment for many crimes particularly in relation to property. There is however a disconnection between the increase in laws that sought death as a punishment and the amount of cases actually convicted and sentenced to this punishment. In reality, while the period labeled as the bloody codes did see a significant rise in the crime punishable by death, the much more popular and common punishment was transportation. Penal transportation was a punishment that exiled and removed those convicted of crimes to serve their time in one of the penal colonies usually either Australia, the United States or modern day Tasmania. Convicts who were sent to these colonies were essentially temporary slaves and would complete forced labour and building projects in the colony; for many this represented an opportunity to avoid the death penalty and serve their time out working, for others transportation became a punishment in lieu of prison time, in this case transportation became far worse than simply serving out their time in their home country.
Transportation cannot be entirely understood without the framework of the bloody code introduced in the 18th century; these laws changed punishment and drastically shifted how the courts dealt with convicts, this later pushed the system to increasing the use of transportation as a punishment. There was an observable shift in how the courts handled punishments beginning in the late 17th and throughout the 18th century, this period later gained its name the bloody codes in relation to the amount of cases that sought capital punishment as a penalty f...
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...ly in favour of Britain, while this system may have arisen out of a need to protect property it developed into a system that could benefit the state instead; Australia is particular demonstrates the difference in transportation from its advent to 1776 when Convict in Australia are being used predominantly for their labour and development capabilities. Ultimately transportation had very little impact on their own domestic decisions until the American Revolution, but absolutely defined the legal system during this period. The life of these convicts was undoubtedly harsh and for many convicts they merely delayed their death sentence instead of avoiding it. The transportation system operated effectively for the period and logically made sense during its advent for property protection and deterrence, and even more effectively when an empire needed to develop and expand.
It represented a new world of confinement that removed the convict from his community and regimented his life. It introduced society to a new notion of punishment and reform. (Curtis et al, 1985)
Its rulers were unable to govern, its social institutions were ill-defined, its economy was undeveloped, its politics were unstable, and its cultural identity was indistinct.” Yet despite this near-anarchic atmosphere, David Hackett Fischer in Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America (1989), concludes that the legal system was fairly effective because it succeeded in fulfilling its main purpose, to strictly enforce the colony’s hierarchical system. Therefore, the proliferation of moral crimes or violence committed among colonists of lower status was irrelevant in determining the deterrent effect on society because that was never the primary intent of the colony’s legal system. The Virginia courts enforced this hierarchical/patriarchal idea of showing deference and respect to one’s “superiors,” whether it involved the relationship between master and slave, father and son, or husband and wife. Violent crimes which threatened this social system were therefore savagely punished, and as a result “there was remarkably little violence by the poor against the rich, or by the humble against the elite.” A defendant’s position within those relationships played an important role in assigning their punishment. Virginia law considered the murder of a patriarch treason, punishable by death. Moreover, literate members of society belonging disproportionately to the elite class could always
Randa, Laura E. “Society’s Final Solution: A History and Discussion of the Death Penalty.” (1997). Rpt.in History of the Death Penalty. Ed. Michael H. Reggio. University Press of America, Inc., 1997. 1-6 Print.
(1996). Volume 2, Sixth Edition, Australian Geographic: New South Wales. 8. Victory, M. (2004). End of the Line- Capital Punishment in Australia, CIS Publishers: Victoria.
Between the years of 1714 and 1799 the rate of theft in London increased for many reasons. The method of research use to prove this hypothesis was Old Bailey online. Old Bailey is a court in the city of London in the county of Middlesex. The court is held eight times a year for the trial of prisoners; the crimes tried in this court are high and petty treason, petty larceny, murder, felony, burglary, etc. The goal of this paper is to prove that not only did theft increase, but also why it increased. My preliminary findings suggest that overall theft did increase, and that the main causes for this were: political, economical, and social problems.
The criminal justice system has been evolving since the first colonists came to America. At first, the colonists used a criminal justice system that mirrored those in England, France, and Holland. Slowly the French and Dutch influences faded away leaving what was considered the English common law system. The common law system was nothing more than a set of rules used to solve problems within the communities. This system was not based on laws or codes, but simply that of previous decisions handed down by judges. Although rudimentary, this common law system did make the distinction between misdemeanors and the more serious crimes known as felonies.
Many convicts began their servitude during transportation. Convicts entered upon what some call a "repressive penal system" through a long oversea journey (Connah 50). The problem with this journey was that "no vessel was specially designed and built as a convict ship" (Batesan 68). This would make the transportation of convicts difficult. These were the kind of ships that Pip saw at the Hulks waiting to take prisoners or waiting to find them in order to continue on their journey, just as they had waited for Compeyson and Magwitch. Often, transportation of convicts was called "convictism"; convicts were thrown on a boat and spent many days in waiting (Inglis 12). Usually the voyage "took eight months, six of them at sea and two in ports for supplies and repairs" (Inglis 6). Often, many convicts died along the way. The case of the Second Fleet in the very beginning of transportation "was the worst in the history of transportation" (O'Brien 168).
"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."
Andre, Claire, and Manuel Velasquez. “Capital Punishment.” Our Duty or Our Doom. 12 May 2010. 30 May 2010 .
The aim of this lesson will be to develop students understanding of crime and punishment in Medieval Europe. As outlined in AUSVELS, this will include investigating different kinds of crime and punishment utilised and the ways the nature of crime and punishment has either stayed the same throughout history, or changed over time.
•In 1800 there were over 200 offences punishable by death including sheep stealing and doing damage to the Westminster Bridge
McLaughlin and Muncie (2012) in their work indicate that “crime is not a self-evident and unitary concept. Its constitution is diverse, historically relative and continually contested.” With this statement, the authors are describing crime as something which is not unique but, on the contrary, it is a fairly normal and widespread event. Moreover, they are stating that crime depends on time and culture and it is shaped by morality and social attitudes. Crime can be linked to different areas such as economics, social status and geography. In this essay, different themes will be discussed: for instance, the main ones are the history of crime, the different types of crime, how to measure crime and the various ideas of crime in different parts of the world.
As probably studied in any law or history class, punishment in medieval times consisted of executions, and torture. Simply put, punishment entailed brutality and violence. However, with time, prisons had finally been established. In modern society, punishment is based on imprisonment, meaning a criminal is placed within a cell and kept there for a period of time, yet there are many states and countries that still permit ‘capital punishment’ for harsh crimes. The aim of this form of punishment had been to establish authority, particularly power. According to Foucault, this power means that for example in a penitentiary, there is a guard and a prisoner. The guard evidently has power over the prisoner, as he is the key holder, and he is the one that has the authority to restrain the individual from doing anything and keep him in his cell. Discipline is methods that are used by arranging a person’s actions and their experiences. Jails aim to reform a criminal and to deter crime. To reform means to transform the criminal to fit society’s norms and standards. In addition, a goal they have is to de...
McMurty, John. "Caging the Poor: The Case Against the Prison System." The Case For Penal Abolition. Ed. W. Gordon West and Ruth Morris. Toronto, Canada: Canadian Scholars' Press, 2000. 167-186.
Furthermore, it will be looking at whether punishment could be re-imagined, and if so, what would it entail? 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.