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Crime And Punishment In The 19th Century

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19th Century Crime and Punishment From 1880 to 1895, the number of offenders in a state prison jumped from 30,659 to a whopping 54,244. In just 15 years, there were 23,585 more offenders. During the 19th century, there were many different crimes committed for different reasons. With those different crimes, jails were overcrowded and punishments were needing to be reconsidered and changed to fit the modernizing time. In order to understand crime and punishment in the 19th century one should analyze the newer crimes, a rough economy, law enforcement, and mental health.

One element that affected crime and punishment were the different crimes being committed. In Mark J. Collins analysis, “A Daily Life in the 1800’s United States”, he describes …show more content…
With an increasing population, there was an increase in demand for officers. In the early 1800’s many police stations had a morning and night shift, to enable a 24 -hour police force. Many jobs of those police officers are jobs that still exist today in our society, there jobs included having to chain the prisoners, guard the jails, and patrol streets and neighborhoods to prevent crime and maintain order. In Clive Emsley’s article, “ Crime in 19th Century Britain”, he explains how the increasing population caused an economic depression, which lead to many turning to drinking to help ease people's pain. “In the 1870’s, the problem with drunkenness had become problematic and one police officer would bring in 60-70 drunk men and women on a Saturday night.” (Emsley 1). With the drinking rate at an unsafe level, the economy failing, and many people committing crimes to just stay above water, the police force was stretched out far too thin, which negatively not only impacted the police force, but the citizens. Allowing more crimes slip, giving more opportunities to criminals to commit crimes knowing there wouldn’t be any law enforcement to catch and punish them. There also was a different kind of police force in the 19th century, these were the “slave patrols”. Their jobs were strictly focused on the slave population. Making sure there were no revolts towards the owners, catching runaway slaves, and finding and returning those slaves that did runaway. But as

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