Skip to content

Tag Archives: Shoplifting

The American Malefactor’s Dictionary: amuse

Monday, December 21, 2009

amuse
– 1. to fling dust into someone’s eyes in order to distract them; 2. to tell a false tale in order to distract and then rob an unsuspecting victim; to “entertain” deceptively.
Amusers threw dust or pepper, which they kept in their pockets, into the eyes of someone they wanted to rob. As the amuser [...]

Filed in Dictionary | Also tagged , | Comments (0)

Convict Voyages (12): Convict Passengers on the Jonathan

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies.
Many of the surviving accounts of events involving transported convicts tend to focus on unusual circumstances or notorious criminals. Most of the convicts sent overseas, however, were minor criminals who committed petty acts of crime. These common criminals did [...]

Filed in 4. Convict Voyages | Also tagged , , | Comments (0)

Convict Voyages (9): Jenny Diver, Henry Justice, and the Influence of Money

Thursday, March 12, 2009

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 [...]

Filed in 4. Convict Voyages | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)