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c1700-c1900 Crime and punishment in eighteenth- and nineteenth century …
c1700-c1900 Crime and punishment in eighteenth- and nineteenth century
Britain
Change and continuity
The main crimes in the 18th century were petty violence and theft. The crimes that attracted the most attention were smuggling, poaching and highway robbery.
Poaching increased in the 18th century, with poaching gangs that worked on a large scale. This led to the 1723 Waltham Black Act, which made poaching a capital crime and also made it illegal to carry snares or own hunting dogs in a poaching area. Many poaching laws were repealed 1823. Local people treated poaching far more leniently and poachers were often let off for minor offences.
Smuggling increased from 1740-1850 because the tax on imported goods were so high. Smugglers made large profits with bringing these goods into the country without paying tax and selling them on. They found it difficult because of the large areas of coast to patrol. In 1840s, taxes were cut and smuggling decreased.
Crimes against property became more serious as industrialisation developed.
Highway robbery increased in the 18th century because:
improved roads led to more people travelling
increased trade between towns meant more goods and money were transported by road
many roads were isolated, making it easy to get away with highway robbery.
In 1772, to try to reduce highway robbery, it became a capital crime to be armed and in disguise on a high road. Mounted patrols on major roads and the growth of the railways helped reduce instances of highway robbery which disappeared completely in the 1830s.
Tolpuddle martyrs and ending of witch trials
In England, witchcraft continued to be a crime into the 18th century; the last official trial was in 1712 but the last execution for witchery was in 1682.
In 1736, all laws concerning witchcraft were abolished, mainly as the result of changing attitudes associated with the period of Enlightenment.
After the Civil War, the number of prosecutions of witchcraft declined. People who claimed to use magic were subject to fines or imprisonment. However, although most people's attitudes and the attitude of the authorities had changed, some still clung to their superstitious beliefs.
Economic and social changes led to more prosperity and political stability. Some still believed in witches and the devil but others, mainly the educated, became less superstitious. The Royal Society, set up by Charles II, led to increased scientific experiments, which explained things previously thought to be the work of witches.
Industrialisation:
This was the most important social change from the period 1750-1900
In the 1851 census, more people lived in towns rather than the countryside for the first time ever.
As people were crammed together in industrial towns, crime and criminal activity changed and increased due to more anonymity.
For the first time, it was assumed that there was a 'criminal class'- that people were born as criminals and you could not change it.
It was believed that the poor needed to be educated in order to rid them of criminal tendencies.
Tolpuddle Martyrs:
In 1834, in Tolpuddle, Dorset- group of farm workers formed a friendly society (an early form of trade unions) to protest about their low wages compared to other farm workers' wages.
The farm owners and the government feared they were losing control of their workers. The 6 men were arrested for taking secret oaths- an old law intended to stop Naval mutiny.
The 6 were found guilty at their trials. They all received the maximum sentence of 7 years transportation to australia in an attempt to deter others from forming trade unions.
News of the Tolpuddle martyrs spread quickly via the press and there was outrage about their treatment. More than 200,000 signatures were collected on a petition to stop their harsh punishment.
The Home Secretary ignored this and went on with the punishment.
4 years later, they were pardoned and returned home.
They were important because they show how authorities used laws to criminalise people they viewed as a threat.
The government would protect the interests of employers at the expense of workers.
The pardoning of the martyrs showed the power of public opinion.
Law enforcement and Punishment
Law enforcement
This period saw great change in terms of law enforcement. However, watchmen continued to patrol on foot at night and parish constables dealt with petty crime. Soldiers were used to put down riots and large scale protests.
In 1749, the Bow Street Runners were formed in London by Henry Fielding. They tracked down criminals and stolen property, they were formed by the Chief Magistrate at Bow Street Court to try to tackle the huge crime wave of the 17th century. They were taken over in 1754 by Henry's half brother John and from here onwards, they patrolled the streets.
At first they charged fees and collected rewards, by 1785 they were paid by the government.
They introduced new methods of finding evidence to bring criminals to justice- the first modern 'detectives'
They branched out to patrolling major roads both on foot and mounted. The patrols were less effective than the detecting side of it because there were not enough of them to deal with the dramatically increasing crime rate.
They formed the beginning of a crime intelligence network.
In 1763, John Fielding suggested splitting London into 6 areas, each with a police station and its own paid patrols on the Bow Street Runner model. In 1792, London was divided into 7 areas, with 3 magistrates and 6 paid constables each.
In 1829, the Metropolitan Police Act was signed, as put forward by Robert Peel (who became home secretary in 1822), which started the first formal police force in London.
1835, Municipal Corporations Act which allowed boroughs to set up their own police force - OPTIONAL (only around half did)
1839, Counties could set up police forces- only around 2/3s did
1842, Detective department set up at the Met Police Force headquarters.
1856 , Police Act- forced all towns and counties to set up a professional police force.
1878, CID set up at the Met Police Force
Punishment
Timeline of Punishment from c1610-1868:
1610- Transportation to American colonies begins
1770- Eastern Australia claimed for Britain
1774- Gaol Act
1776- American War of independence stops transportation to USA.
1787- Transportation of criminals to Australia begins.
1787-1868- Over 160,000 people transported to Australia.
1822- Last hanging for shoplifting.
1823- Gaols Act
1825- End of the Bloody Code as capital crimes reduced to 122.
1842-77- 90 new prisons built.
1850s- Transportation slows down.
1868- Transportation abolished, no more public executions.
The increase in the crime rate increased transportation to Australia. Once there the criminals worked for settlers for 7 years, providing free labour to build infrastructure. Most stayed in Australia once their sentence ended, they couldn't afford the fare home.
Transportation ended because:
Australia no longer needed forced labourers and it didn't want 'criminals'.
Some felt it was too expensive and not a strong enough deterrent to crime. Others felt it was too harsh for both the criminals and their families.
More prisons had been built and prison was increasingly used instead of transportation.
Rapidly growing crime rates led to the Bloody code. In 1820, there were 222 crimes punishable by death in an attempt to deter crime. However, it was clear these deterrents were not working and a new strategy was needed. In the 19th century, there were increasing feelings that punishments should be equal to the crime . That corporal and capital punishments were inhumane except for very serious crimes. Also that punishments should be about rehabilitating the offender.
This led to a decrease in the use of the death penalty led to the end of the Bloody Code in 1825. It led to an increase in other forms of punishments like imprisonment and transportation. The change in attitudes also led to the ending of public executions in 1868.
Prison reforms:
John Howard: In 1773, he was appointed High Sheriff of Bedfordshire. He was shocked by the crowded and unsanitary conditions.
He recommonded more space, better food, paid gaolers (instead of the existing practice where prisoners paid fees to the gaolers) and the separation of prisoners according to gender and type.
Elizabeth Fry: in 1813, she paid a visit to the women's section of Newgate Prison, and was horrified by what she saw.
She returned in 1816, and persuaded the women (and the authorities) to begin a school for the prison children. In 1817, a prison matron was appointed to run the women's section.
She set up education classes to reform female prisoners and treated prisoners with kindness and respect.
This influenced Peel's prison reforms later.
Case studies- Pentonville Prison and Robert Peel
Pentonville
Pentonville was home to 500 prisoners which 4mx2m cells that were fairly large. They had wash basins and hammocks.
The design for Pentonville was based off the design for Milbrook prison that opened in 1818 and housed 800 prisoners.
It had a central hall and 5 wings. A Prison chapel opened in 1862, 20 years after the opening of the prison in 1842. It also had very thick walls to stop inmates talking to each other. There were areas where the prisoners were sent for fresh air and exercise but due to the separate system implemented at the time, they were masked to prevent communication.
54 prisons were build on the model of Pentonville in the following 6 years.
Separate system:
It had dreadful effects on prisoners; in the first 8 years of it opening, 22 prisoners went mad, 26 had serious nervous breakdowns and 3 actually committed suicide.
There was no education or instruction to provide new skills for prisoners to use when they were released.
However, compared to previous prisons, it was clean and there was far less disease.
Many people thought that it provided the right level of punishment- it was seen as harsh but not overly so.
Silent System:
By the 1860s, there was a new attitude to criminals emerging- the 'criminal class' so you couldn't change them- you just had to 'scare' them into not recommitting.
The purpose of the silent system was to break convicts' wills by being kept in total silence by long, pointless labour.
It's associated with the 1865 Prisons act and sir Edmund du cane.
It was cheaper than the Separate system and was the basis for the Prisons Act (1865)
This act also closed 80 smaller prisons and left 113 prisons which were still under local control till 1878.
Reasons for the Separate System:
For rehabilitation- Solitude was thought to be the best way to provide prisoners with an opportunity to reflect on their crimes, turn to religion and therefore reform their beliefs.
For retribution: the isolation and boredom made the criminal 'pay' for their crime.
Deterrent: it was serious punishment and was therefore thought to act as a deterrent to other potential criminals.
Robert Peel
As of 1810, there was an unprecedented number of capital crimes and so Robert reduced them to 100 in 1825 because he wanted less harsh punishments for petty crimes and to try to reform criminals rather than kill them
Partly due to the influence of John Howard and Elizabeth Fry, Peel tried to improve conditions in prisons through persuading parliament to pass the 1823 Gaols Act which stated:
Chaplains should regularly visit prisoners
Gaoler should be paid
Prisoners should not be put in chains.
However, no inspectors to enforce the act so the impact was limited.
In 1822, Peel set up a parliamentary committee to look into the issue of policing London, which helped him come up the idea of a centralised police force across the whole city. The crime was resulting from the economic downturn in 1826 helped Peel get it passed.