This research examines the dichotomy between social control and individual liberties, particularly in reference to the appropriate role of government in combating civil violence and guaranteeing civil liberty.
From the early 17th Century through the Revolutionary War secure homes and safe streets were the rule throughout the colonies, particularly in New England where the Puritans were running things. Violence was rare among townspeople, and penalties, in retrospect, seem punitive enough to placate today's tough-on-crime crowd. Miscreants were regularly whipped and pilloried, occasionally branded with a hot iron and sometimes tagged with a symbol of their transgression.
The punishments were usually public, and incorrigibles could be hanged, the era's version of three-strikes-and-you're-out. Also for anyone lukewarm about paying taxes, this was law-and-order on the cheap, a criminal justice system largely composed of part-time, unpaid amateurs and almost totally devoid of lawyers. Most judges, who dominated proceedings, were laymen; even prosecutors, late arrivals to the colonial court, were not on the public payroll; and there were no prisons or police departments, neither of which was invented until the 19th Century.
The prevailing values of that time, however, should be considered before anyone starts longing for the ôold days.ö Unmarried sex, for example, was unlawful and subject to stern official retribution; as were adultery, skipping church, skepticism about God, and foul language; as were all kinds of deeds and dogmas that violated strict dictates about sexual conduct and matters of faith. The authorities were religious leaders certain of divine guidance; for them, sin and crime were synonymous.
The story of crime and punishment over the years is a story of social changes--changes in culture, changes in the structure of society, and ultimately, changes in the economic, technological and social orders. Economic a...