QUESTION = Why were olde time punishments for relatively minor crimes so severe? Was death for crimes such as stealing not considered to be a tad harsh?

GENERATION = I think the main thing is that in the past people didn't have the luxury of luxury. If you got caught stealing a loaf of bread, or stealing a few gallons of wine, or a few years of unpaid wages, you'd be in prison. If you got caught doing drugs, you'd be in jail. There was no such thing as a "long-term" punishment. You could be sent to prison for life or you could be imprisoned for a year or two, or you could be killed. There was no system for punishing people for petty crimes. And, if you got caught doing something petty, you'd be in jail for life. If you got caught doing something more serious, you'd be in jail for life. And if you got caught doing something even more serious, you'd be in jail for life. And if you got caught doing something even more serious, you'd be in jail for life. And if you got caught doing something even more serious, you'd be in jail for life. And so on. So, basically, if you got caught doing something minor, you'd get in jail for life, and if you got caught doing something serious. 

RETRIEVAL #0 = Footpad---was the most common penalty for the majority of crimes but during the 18th century it was scaled down, and new punishments were practised. Theft by footpads was often categorized as a violent felony. The penalty for violent robbery was hanging on the gallows, but judges occasionally condemned those convicted of egregious crimes to hanging in chains near the scene of the offence. Until 1783, when the procession to Tyburn (the place in which hangings took place) was abolished, executions were carried out in public as a deterrent to crime. Different factors determined if the prisoner was condemned to death or given a lesser punishment. Evidence, the nature of the offence, and the offender's conduct contributed to his or her punishment. Penal transportation and imprisonment were instituted as alternative punishments which were often perceived as a condition of pardon and mercy granted by the king. Section::::Literature and culture. One of the most remarkable literary portrayals of the illicit side of society is Defoe's "Colonel Jack" (1722), a novel which has the shades of crime fiction. Following the theme of "Moll Flanders", it shares many crucial elements necessary to understand how crime and justice were perceived at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century. 

RETRIEVAL #1 = History of United States prison systems---punishment continued into the post-war era with some refinement—"i.e.", weighted leather strips and aerated paddles were used instead of whips. The number of strokes was set to the offense and in some placed, like Massachusetts, limited by statute. Sing Sing convicts in the 1880s reportedly jumped from the upper galleries of the prison's cell blocks in an effort to break their legs and escape a paddling. BULLET::::- Solitary Confinement ("The Dungeon")—Reconstruction-era inmates were locked in dark solitary cells, furnished only with a bucket, and fed short rations for disciplinary infractions (usually for a period of up to a week, but sometimes up to six or more). BULLET::::- Straitjackets—Wardens used these as much for discipline as for inmate safety. BULLET::::- Brickbag—Convicts who would not work were forced in some institutions to wear a heavy bag (full of weighted objects). BULLET::::- Water Crib—Used at the Reconstruction-era prison in Kansas, this disciplinary instrument involved the inmate's being placed in a coffin-like box about six-and-a-half feet long, thirty inches wide, and three-feet deep. The inmate would lie face down, his or her hands cuffed behind the back, while keepers slowly filled the 

RETRIEVAL #2 = Curious Punishments of Bygone Days---Curious Punishments of Bygone Days Curious Punishments of Bygone Days is a history book published in 1896. It was written by Alice Morse Earle and printed by Herbert S. Stone & Company. Earle was a historian of Colonial America, and she writes in her introduction: In ransacking old court records, newspapers, diaries and letters for the historic foundation of the books which I have written on colonial history, I have found and noted much of interest that has not been used or referred to in any of those books. An accumulation of notes on old-time laws, punishments and penalties has evoked this volume. As the title suggests, the subject of the chapters is various archaic punishments. Morse seems to make a distinction between stocks for the feet, in the Stocks chapter, and stocks for the head, described in the Pillory article- which itself clashes with the modern day understanding of a pillory as a whipping post. Section::::Table of contents. BULLET::::- Foreword BULLET::::- The Bilboes BULLET::::- The Ducking Stool BULLET::::- The Stocks BULLET::::- The Pillory BULLET::::- Punishments of Authors and Books BULLET::::- The Whipping Post BULLET::::- The Scarlet Letter BULLET:: 

RETRIEVAL #3 = History of criminal justice---any problems. Courts began to require many problem-causing people to put up money to make sure they would stay out of trouble. This system worked especially well in communities where everyone minded each other's business. Section::::Colonial America.:County jails. In the early colonial period, prisons were not yet a major staple in the criminal justice system. They were used mainly for holding people who were awaiting trial rather than punishment. The early jails resembled ordinary houses in many aspects and had no distinctive architectural features. Prisoners were placed in rooms instead of cells and were not classified or segregated in any way. Men, women, and juveniles were mixed together causing many problems. Overcrowding soon became a big concern, as well as poor sanitation. The jails turned into breeding houses of illness. Furthermore, the jails were even unable to fulfill their basic purpose of containing offenders within its walls. Escapes were very frequent. The prisons held not only those who were awaiting trial but also people who owed money, called debtors. These people were free during the day so they could work to pay off their debt but they returned to the jail at night. Other prisoners included the homeless, unemployed, or impoverished. They were expected to learn good work ethic during their stay. The financial arrangements of the jailer were similar to those of the sheriff, especially since the same person 

RETRIEVAL #4 = Deterrence (psychology)---emphasizing compassion and tolerance rather than punishment, even to the extent of "turning the other cheek." Although most Western populations eventually embraced some version of Judeo-Christian values, medieval Europe displayed little of the restraint prescribed by this religious tradition. On the contrary, the level of violence among medieval populations was only exceeded by the force applied by emerging states in attempting to maintain control and suppress it. Deciding guilt in an offender was more important than the nature of the offense. Once the guilt was announced, the question was not so much whether an execution should take place, but how dramatic it should be. There were not many punishments besides exile and execution. Two utilitarian philosophers of the eighteenth century, Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham, formulated the deterrence theory as both an explanation of crime and a method for reducing it. Beccaria argued that crime was not only an attack on an individual but on society as well. This extended the issue of punishment beyond retribution and restitution to aggrieved individuals. Society was cast as victim, not merely bystander, and what had been seen as a dispute between individuals, expanded to an issue of criminal law. For the utilitarians, the purpose of punishment became the protection of society through the prevention of crime. Section::::Capital punishment. There is an ongoing debate about deterrence correlation with capital punishment, one theory being that 

RETRIEVAL #5 = History of criminal justice---shaming was included. Through the method of shaming, the criminal justice system meant more to teach a lesson than simply punish the offender. The “criminal” was almost always male. However, punishment for such crimes as witchcraft, infanticide, and adultery fell heavily on the women. In addition, much of the blame and punishment for crimes was attributed to those in the lowest rank in society. Whipping was the most commonly used form of punishment, especially in the south with slaves. Other frequently used punishments included branding, cutting off ears, and placing people in the pillory. These punishments were sometimes harsher, depending on the crimes committed. In the American colonies, executions were less common than in England. However, when such a method was used, it was most often a public hanging. Usually capital offenses, such as murder or rape, or repeated serious offenses constituted a need for an execution. Imprisonment was uncommon in colonial America since the budding colonies did not have people to spare to keep the community in order. Every person was valuable for their working ability, and losing even one worker to lawkeeping was neither reasonable nor an efficient use of resources. In addition, colonial communities rarely had enough extra money to build a prison and feed prisoners. Since probation was not yet known to the colonists, they used a system of nods to guarantee troublemakers would not cause 

RETRIEVAL #6 = Coinage Act of 1873---silver movement. In 1890, Seyd's corrupt involvement was asserted on the floor of the House of Representatives by Arkansas's Thomas C. McRae. Seyd was in fact an ardent bimetallist who strongly objected to the American demonetization of silver. He had submitted, at Hooper's request, an analysis of the bill in the course of which he advocated retaining the silver dollar as a legal tender. The earliest use of the phrase "Crime of 1873" in congressional debate was by Colorado Senator Henry M. Teller, who on July 10, 1890, stated, "the fight for free coinage [of silver] is on, and it will stay on, too, till the will of the people shall be heard in the enactment of a law that shall put silver back where it belongs and where it would have been but for the blunder or the crime of 1873". The act had long been referred to as a "crime" without the exact phrase being used; in one 1889 speech, Nevada Senator William M. Stewart called it a "crime" seven times. He had voted for it in 1873. Section::::See also. BULLET::::- Coinage Act of 1834 BULLET::::- Coinage Act of 1849 BULLET::::- Coinage Act of 1853 BULLET::::- Coinage Act of 1857 BULLE