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Explore the cruel and unusual punishments of colonial times, including whippings, stocks, branks, and more. Discover the offenses that led to these punishments and the individuals who suffered them.
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Colonial Punishments Those who do wrong must be punished!
Whipping at the Cart’s Tayle • Usually a whipping pole was used instead of a cart’s tayle. • A specified number of lashings was given – no more than forty. Typically it was 10.
Whipping at the Cart’s Tayle Applied to Native Americans and white men for: • Stealing • Shooting fowl on the Sabbath • Swearing • Selling rum to the Native Americans • Perjury and lying • For intemperate drinking • Name calling • Picking pockets • Throwing out the suds of dirty clothes on the open streets.
The Branks • An iron cage covering the entire head, with a spiked plate or flat tongue of iron to be placed in the mouth and over the tongue. • Often called the “Gossip’s Bridle” – if the offender spoke, she was cruelly hurt. • The “Cleft Stick” was used in place of the branks, and pinched the tongue when one spoke.
The Branks Who was it used on? • Gossiping men and women. • Slander and mischief making occurred more often among men than among women.
Laying by the heels in the Bilboes • A long heavy bar having two sliding shackles. • The legs of the offender were thrust in the shackles and the body rested on the ground as the legs were suspended in the air.
Laying by the heels in the Bilboes Who was it used on? • Drunkards • “For speaking seditious (rebellious) words against the government here established”. • Cursing • Stealing boards
The Stocks • The offender sat on a low bench with his legs extended. • Suffered public ridicule
The Stocks • The first offender to be placed in the stocks in Boston was the carpenter who made them, because he overcharged the town – “He is to be set an houre in the stocks”. • Another individual was “made to sit in the stocks in the market place for one houre each day for two days, where he could be plainly seen by every maid and widow in the little town” all because he had two wives.
The Pillary A platform with a framework above it where the human head was confined in a tight grasp and held up to the public gaze.
In 1671 a politician was sentenced to the pillary because “he endeavored to prevent the Providence of God by putting in several votes for himself”. The Pillary
The Pillary What other offenses send you to the pillary? • Putting large sums of money in the contribution box in meeting to induce others to give largely, and then taking the gift back again. • Dishonest bakers had to sit with dough on their heads. • Women who stole stockings. • Persons passing counterfeit money.
The Ducking-Stool • A stool attached to a pole on the bank of a pond or river, where the chair/stool hung just over the water’s edge. • The offender was plunged into the water as often as the sentence directed.
The Ducking-Stool Who took the plunge? • Scolding women • Slanderers • Brawlers • Women of light carriage • Unruly paupers • Brewers of bad beer • Bakers of bad bread • Quarrelsome married couple- couples had to be tied back to back. • Women accused of witchcraft
Public Penance • A person who went against the teaching of the Church would have to sit on a “repentance stool in full view of the church membership”.
Public Penance Did you know that Judge Samuel Sewall, a magistrate who sat in judgment at the Salem Witch Trials and those in Boston, became convinced that many innocent lives were sacrificed and that his decision was unjust. His public confession was read aloud at the Sabbath service while the Judge sat facing the entire congregation with “bowed head and aching heart”?
The Scarlet Letter • A specific letter or even sometimes an entire phrase proclaiming the nature of the crime was required to be worn by the offender for a certain number of hours in the market place.
The Scarlet Letter What did the letters stand for? • “B” – worn by women for blasphemy • “D” – worn by men for drunkenness • “A Wonton Creature” – worn for interrupting the preacher • “ill behaved” – a sign held up by women and their husbands had to pay a fine for their “ill behavior”.
Branding • The letters were specifically defined and could be enjoined. • Branding was extremely painful.
Branding What letters were used? • “SL” – stood for seditious libel and could be burnt on either cheek. • “M” – stood for man slaughter. • “T” – stood for thief and was branded on the left hand. • “R” – stood for rogue or vagabond and was branded on the shoulder. • “F” – could be branded on the cheek for forgery. • “B” – stood for burglar and was branded on the right hand for the first offence and the left for the second. • “I” – for the man who sold arms and powder to the Native Americans.
The Burning of Books Books were ordered to be burned for: • “being stuffed with notorious lyes and scandals”. • For rebellion against the government. • For sharp criticism of the Court or general thought of the times.
The Burning of Books Who burned the Books? It was the duty of the hangman to burn the books. Who was the hangman? The hangman was usually a reprieved prisoner under sentence of death. Where there lots of hangmen running around the countryside? No, it was often difficult to find a man who would consent to be a hangman and burn the books.
