Discuss the history of punishment from early Greece and Rome through the beginning of the American Revolution.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The punishment and correction of criminals have changed considerably through the ages, reflecting custom, economic conditions, and religious and political ideals. In early Greece and Rome, the most common state-administered punishment was banishment or exile. Interpersonal violence, even if it resulted in death, was considered a personal affair. During the Middle Ages there was little law or governmental control, and offenses often sparked blood feuds and vendettas carried out by families or the injured parties. The main concern at this time was public order. The development of the common law in the eleventh century brought some standardization to penal practice, but corrections remained an amalgam of fines and corporal or brutal physical punishments. These punishments became crueler and also became public spectacles. By the end of the sixteenth century, punishment of criminals shifted to meet the demands of overseas colonization where offenders were forced to do hard labor for their crimes instead of being tortured or executed. Houses of correction were developed to make it convenient to assign petty law violators to work details. Due to the need of laborers in European colonies, felons were transported overseas to fill this gap. This practice of prisoner transportation continued until the beginning of the American Revolution in North America.