Law enforcement and Punishment, 1500-1700 Flashcards
What effect did the growth of towns and populations have on crime and punishment in 1500-1700?
The dramatic increase in population in towns made crimes like theft and fraud more common as life was more anonymous than in villages.
- There were more goods to steal.
- Many people came to towns looking for work, if they didn’t find it they would often turn to crime.
What was a town constable?
They were employed by town authorities and were locals with good standing points in the community.
- They didn’t need a warrant from a justice of the peace to arrest people.
- Helped with stiff like collecting payment for road clearing.
- Stopped suspected criminals and rounded up sturdy beggars.
- turned serious criminals into the court.
What was the role of a night-watchman?
-Overseen by town constable.
-All households were expected to serve a night watchman. They’d take it in turns to patrol the area from 10 pm - dawn.
-Unpaid volunteers - had normal jobs in the day.
They rang bells to warn people to go home or if they saw a possible criminal.
-They carried lamps.
What was a thief-taker?
Victims of a crime could hire a thief-taker to catch the criminal.
-Often corrupt, as they were usually criminals.
Who was Jhon Wilder?
Infamous thief-taker.
- Assumed ‘Theif taker general’ as his title in 1718.
- He led a criminal gang.
- Executed in 1725.
What were the prison conditions like in the early 16th century?
- Prisoners had to pay guards in order to get food, water, and bedding.
- Women men and children were kept together.
- Younger prisoners were bullied and harassed by older prisoners.
- Petty criminals were kept with serious criminals and therefore schooled into being worse criminals.
- Unhealthy, likely to catch a disease.
In 1556, what was done to make prisons more purposeful?
- A new prison called Bridewell prison was built.
- It was to punish poor people who broke laws (eg. Vagabondage) and to house poor children that were homeless.
- All inmates were made to do hard labor to pay for their keep.
What was the bloody code?
in 1688, there were 50 capital crimes.
- Capital crimes could be as small as poaching a rabbit or a fish to eat.
- Today this is seen as very harsh so it is called ‘The Bloody Code’.
Why was the bloody code an ineffective deterrent?
- Because crimes were committed out of desperation, people weren’t concerned with the consequences of getting caught because they were starving, etc.
- As punishment was so severe, criminals were not always executed, often pardoned, or let off the punishment.
- Eg. plead for the belly, a woman could say she was pregnant and get out of punishment.
What was Transportation to North America?
- Prisoners were taken in chains to work in colonies in North America.
- Prisoners who were taken instead of executed got 14 years.
- Less serious criminals taken for 7 years
- They were freed afterward but with no money, they could not return home, so would have to stay forever.
Why was transportation to America favored by Authorities?
- It was seen as an effective deterrent.
- England did not have a prison system, so going to prison was not a feasible alternative punishment.
- England wanted to establish colonies, prisoners populated colonies.
- It was a punishment that allowed the possibility of rehabilitation.
- Criminals were taken away from people and places that might have drawn them to crime.
Why did James the 1st allow vagrant children to be transported?
- Homeless blamed for spreading the plague - authorities happy to remove them.
- Transported children were called duty boys, but one-fourth were girls.
- Authorities claimed it was an opportunity for a new life.
- In reality, many died and conditions were terrible.
