Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Outside of murder, burglary and robbery were considered the most egregious crimes in England and colonial America. Since burglars and robbers threaten the well-being and lives of victims while taking their property, they are regarded as worse than thieves, who try to steal without detection or intimidation. Burglary also conjures up feelings of discomfort, fear, [...]
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
In the earliest days of colonial America, burglary was not considered much of a problem. Most people in the community knew each other, and strangers were quickly identified. As more people settled in America and cities grew bigger, however, burglary became a much more frequent occurrence, and it increasingly was treated with harsh punishment.
Massachusetts
Even [...]
Monday, November 23, 2009
ackruffs
– River thieves; river-pirates (obsolete by 1900).
The word is an American variant of Ark Ruffians, who rob and murder on fresh water. One of their schemes is to pick an argument with a passenger on board the vessel and use the occasion to strip the passenger, throw him or her overboard, and then plunder [...]
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies.
Samuel Ellard grew up in Spitalfields and was apprenticed to a butcher. He completed his time as an apprentice and worked in the Spitalfields Market for various people until he was arrested on March 9, 1741 for robbing a cheese shop [...]
Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies.
On July 15, 1751 the New-York Gazette, or Weekly Post-Boy reported that Onesiphorus Lucas was executed in Annapolis in a follow-up to a newspaper story that appeared two weeks earlier about how Lucas was found guilty of burglary and sentenced to [...]
Filed in 5. In the New World
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Also tagged Assault, Attempted Murder, Branding, Burglary, Convict Transportation, Counterfeiting, Execution, Forgery, Maryland, Pillory, Prisons and Jails, Virginia
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Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies.
While the American press criticized the practice of British convict transportation, Daniel Defoe enthusiastically supported it in his novel The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders. Moll Flanders is the most well-known character in literature to have been [...]
Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies.
James Dalton vividly experienced the strong arm of the law at a young age when he sat between the knees of his father, who was riding in a cart that was taking him to the gallows to be hanged for robbery. [...]
Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies.
When dealing with bureaucratic institutions in the eighteenth century, money artfully placed in the right hands could often buy special privileges, and convict transportation was no exception. The sale of convicts once they arrived in America helped convict merchants and [...]
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies.
Convict transportation was conceived as a relatively easy means of emptying British prisons and punishing repeat petty criminals without having to resort to a death sentence. Most convicted criminals facing potential execution were probably relieved to receive a reprieve from [...]
