LAWS 3305 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Kingston Penitentiary, Hm Prison Pentonville, Penitentiary Act
Document Summary
Early modern era penalties didn"t tend to center around time. Prior to late 18th c incarceration generally not the leading punishment in britain or north america. Imprisonment left its imprint on certain parts of continental europe somewhat sooner than this. Late 18th/early 19th c in britain and north america, as elsewhere in europe, major offenders now punished via prison, including the penitentiary. Features that partially differentiate penitentiaries from earlier jails or prisons : confinement for a specified period of time that could sometimes be quite lengthy, confinement in a cell, mandatory labor. One of the purposes of these characteristics = to reform the inmates. Penitentiary act (1779) no actual penitentiaries yet; jails starting to morph. Establishment of various major state prisons (ca. Establishment of penitentiaries with the key characteristics listed above (1820s) around this time, world countries started looking to america as an example.
