Crime has existed in the world as long as human beings have walked on it. When there is a crime there must be a form of punishment. A form of punishment must exist when a person commits a crime, he or she must be taught a lesson to prevent the crime from occurring again. To understand how punishment was developed a person must start from the beginning. This essay will discuss the history of punishment, the history of prison development, the comparison of the Pennsylvania system and the Auburn system, and last the impact and involvement of prison labor over time.
Before discussing the history of punishment one must know what the” term” punishment means. The “term” punishment can be in numerous ways but each “term” possesses the same meaning. One way of defining punishment is, a penalty inflicted on an offender through judicial procedure (Merriam-Webster, 2012). The use of punishment can be dated back to as early as the 1600s. During that era crime in America was punished based on the English criminal codes (Sieter, 2011). Examples of crimes in the 1600s would be drunkenness, stealing something of minor value, and slander (the utterance of false charges or misrepresentations, which defame and damage another's reputation (Merriam-Webster, 2012)). If a person was found committing any of the crimes previously listed he or she would be known as an offender. An offender would receive his or her punishment at the town whipping post or placed in stocks and pillories. Pillories are said to have been wooden frames with holes for offenders’ hands and head. The offender had to stand with his or her hands and head secured. Stocks, which were similar to pillories, allowed the offender to sit with his or her hands, head, and feet secured in the wooden frame. While the offender was in the stocks or pillories citizens of the town would pass by and toss rotten fruits and vegetables