Wednesday, February 24, 2010
American Homicide by Randolph Roth (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009), 655 pp.
In American Homicide, Randolph Roth attempts to use the massive amount of historical data that he and his colleagues have assembled for the Historical Violence Database to explain patterns in the murder rate over broad historical time periods. His [...]
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
All of you who read these Lines may see
The sad and dire Effects of Sin:
Therefore if Sinners still you’l be,
Leave off to read ere you begin. (from A Few Lines)
These lines form the opening of A Few Lines upon the Awful Execution of John Ormesby & Matthew Cushing, one of two poems written [...]
Monday, December 14, 2009
John Warren has just posted an article on his New York History blog about a new online exhibit by the New York Correction History Society. The exhibit chronicles the last execution to be carried out by hanging in the state of New York.
The hanging of John Greenwall for murder and burglary took place on December [...]
Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies.
Lots of convict servants tried to run away from their owners in an attempt to escape harsh treatment from them or to regain their freedom and possibly return to Great Britain, or both. Almost as soon as the practice of convict [...]
The Massachusetts Superior Court celebrated its 150th anniversary on June 4, 2009 in Worcester, MA by reenacting the trial of Bathsheba Spooner. Everyone in the packed audience would surely agree that the performance was both entertaining and informative. Seeing real people play the parts of the historical actors in this colonial murder drama [...]
As part of the 150th anniversary of the Massachusetts Superior Court, the trial of Bathsheba Spooner will be reenacted on June 4, 2009 at the Worcester Trial Court on 225 Main St. in Worcester, MA. The original trial took place at Worcester’s Old South meetinghouse on April 24, 1778 and lasted all day. [...]
Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies.
Knowing the volatile nature of their cargo, captains of convict ships were careful not to allow convicts much freedom during their voyage to America for fear they could take over the ship. Still, insurrection did occur. In 1751, The [...]
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies.
Once the convicts were loaded onto the convict ship, the captain, the jailor, and certain witnesses would sign a transportation bond ensuring that the convicts being transported were safely aboard the ship. These documents were then delivered to the Treasury [...]
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies.
Once the convict merchant was ready to make the trip to America, the convicts were released from prison and loaded onto the ship, along with dry goods and perhaps a few indentured servants. Convict voyages were generally timed to leave [...]
