Law & Government in Colonial America

Law & Government in Colonial America Ashanti Callender 7A2 ID2

Crime in Colonial America • Some crimes committed in colonial America still exist today. • Many crimes thought of as serious during the Colonial Era, would not be thought of as serious today. • Public drunkenness and hog theft were considered major crimes. • Another major crime was going against the government. In Colonial America, that meant going against the King.

Colonial Courts • The Colonial court system was informal and simple, but still followed the court systems in England. • The law was a set of rules made to help with colonial life. • There was usually one judge who heard all of the concerns of the colonists. • The court was involved with making decisions about social and economic life.

Types of Punishment • Fines • Physical Punishment • Pillory • Stocks • Whipping Post • Ducking Stool

Fines in Courts • Courts awarded fines for many civil crimes. • Fines were a way of avoiding crueler punishments. • If convicted stealing a hog colonists were fined ten pounds.

Physical Punishments • Physical punishments were often used, for felonies and for the poor, who could not afford to pay fines. • A person convicted of hog stealing was lashed twenty- five times on a whipping post. • In addition to the ten pound fine, there was a fine of four-hundred pounds of tobacco to be shared by the owner and the informant.

Pillory • The pillory was used to publicly humiliate a person who committed a crime. • The public threw items like fruits and vegetables at the criminal for harmless crimes. • For more serious infractions, items such as rocks and other hard items were thrown at the criminal. • This punishment lasted from a few hours to several days.

Stocks • The stocks were wooden frames with holes for the criminals’ feet. • Stocks were primarily used to hold criminals while awaiting trial. • At other times, the public would throw items at them like in the pillory, but the criminals could defend themselves with their hands.

Whipping Post • Whipping was one of the most common punishments handed out by the courts. • The wealthy got out of this punishment by paying a fine, but the poor were usually whipped. • The whipping post has shackles on the sides of the post. • The criminal was strapped to the post and was whipped.

Ducking Stool • This form of punishment was used for minor crimes. • The criminal was strapped into a chair and dunked into water.

Social Status • During colonial times, a person’s status or social class was the main factor in determining the harshness of their punishment. • The two major classes during this time period were the higher class and the servant class. • The people in the higher class sometimes received a less harsh punishment for the same crime than a person in the servant class.

Conclusion • Colonial law and government differed from the law and government we have today. • Our government is more complex and formal. • The punishments we have today does not include publicly punishing the criminal. • Some of the punishments in Colonial times would be considered cruel and unusual today.

References • Blomberg, T.G., Lucken, K. (2010). American penology: a history of control. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, NJ. • http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/colonial_court/html/colonial.html

Law & Government in Colonial America