About Crimes Committed in Colonial America

When you think about crime and punishment in colonial America, what do you think of? Maybe it's Hester Prynne standing upon a scaffold bearing the scarlet mark of the adulteress upon her dress. Perhaps you envision a thief shackled up in the stocks. Maybe you see slavery on a southern plantation. Whatever it is, crimes and their repercussions were much different then than they are now.

Types

Criminals in colonial America were punished publicly. In most colonies, there were three types of public punishment, pillories, stocks and whipping posts. Pillories trap the criminal between two boards with holes cut out for the head and hands. Villagers would often throw rotten food or other objects at the criminal as they did their time in the pillory. Stocks work opposite to pillories. A stock works by restraining the legs of the criminal as he sits in a chair. The whipping post was used to secure the criminal while he was publicly flogged.

History

Because the colonists adhered to a strict moral code, things like swearing, skipping church, and "inappropriate behavior" were punishable offenses. These petty crimes were punishable by pillory or stocks. Kissing on the Sabbath was considered "lewd" behavior.

Considerations

Blasphemy was considered a serious crime. In some circumstances the blasphemer's tongue would be bored out with a hot iron. Other criminals were sometimes branded with a hot iron.

Effects

Just like Hester Prynne in "The Scarlet Letter," adulterers were marked with the letter A embroidered on their clothing and counterfeiters marked with the letter C. They were forced to stand before the people to shame them for what they had done.

History

Slaves who were tried in courts were never ordered to pay a fine. They always received physical punishment regardless of their previous criminal activity. Slave children and orphans were almost always sentenced to public whipping since they had no one to advocate for them.

History

Marriage between whites and mixed race people, Indians or blacks was punished by banishment from the Virginia colony. Free women who gave birth to mixed race illegitimate children were fined. If they could not pay, they were sold into indentured servitude for five years.

Significance

Hog stealing was a grave crime in colonial Virginia. Free persons receiving a first conviction of hog stealing were sentenced to 25 lashes. Slaves, Indians and mixed race people were sentenced to 39 lashes. Second offenses were punishable by having one's ears nailed to the pillory for two hours then cut off. The third offense of hog stealing was punishable by death.

Resources

• Crime and Punishment in Colonial America
• Colonial Punishments
• Justice in the Colonies