The History of Mass Incarceration

Understanding the rise of mass incarceration in the United States is the first step in understanding the creation of a post-carceral America. Since the 13 colonies justice has been a hot topic on the American agenda, from its roots in 16th century justice all the way to today. Its history is full of societal reflection and perceived social justice, over the decades it evolved for the better and for the worse into the society of mass incarceration that we have today.

Colonial Justice

When considering a world without prisons one of the first questions you might have is "have we ever not had them"? The answer to the question is yes. The colonies upon their inception did not have a prison system but a system of capital punishment. Seeking out justice in the 16th century was much less difficult that perceived. There was a system of residency followed by the colonies of the time, if you lived in a town, were written into its registrar and acknowledged by the local perish "often one and the same" you were a "resident", making this distinction is important because it plays a role in crime and punishment. In 1736 Massachusetts the punishment for being drunk and disorderly was a fine or being whipped, if you did it again it was more fines and public humiliation in the stockades, possibly more lashes, but if you were to continue to commit crime the third time they simply hung you. This system of justice was what happened to you if you were a resident! If you were not a resident the first punishment was banishment from the town, if you returned they hanged you.

There were considerations in this form of justice, and it was to avoid unfamiliarity and promote civil well being, avoiding riff ram and the criminal element in your town was important to its continuity. But this system had its flaws as mentioned by David J, Rothman in "Perfecting Prisons", it relied on what could be amounted as public humiliation, for if fines whipping and stockades did not deter a person from crime then capital punishment must be the answer to keep order. But this begot an era of reform around 1792, Benjamin Rush said "Capital punishments are the natural offspring of monarchical governments". He also went on to mention "an execution in a republic is like a human sacrifice in religion". People began to see the roots of crime not in the corrupt nature of man but in the similarity to British laws. That because capital punishment was so severe and all other forms of punishment faced loosing their efficacy in the face of hardened criminals juries were not inclined to seriously punish people of minor offenses. If somehow punishments effectiveness could be a certainty without being capital then crime would disappear.

This sentiment of law reform was gaining traction as early as 1786 when Pennsylvania eliminated the death penalty for robbery and burglary, this type of reform removing capital punishment for non-murder offenses became nearly widespread throughout the colonies by 1820 when the establishment of the death penalty had reached nearly the entirety of the colonies. But during this same period of reform for capital punishment another form had to take its place. This was the inception of incarceration, that in a society valuing freedom without taking your life they could take what you valued most and that was your freedom. Pennsylvania lead the way in 1790 with the conversion of the old jail into the first state prison. by 1800 there were four other prisons in New Jersey, New York, Kentucky, and Virginia.

Plantation Justice

But prisons would not remain the only form of punishment and nor would the law be the only thing that could condemn you to such punishment. The colonies were a society with slaves, in 1790 about 20% of the population were slaves (Perera, 2017). The slaves of the early colonies were drastically different from the slaves that came to be, they often established families and traded freely, many of them managed to secure freedom and lived to an old age able to secure modest prosperity. By 1860 the slave population had easily quadrupled even though the slave trade officially ended in 1808. This came to be because of the discovery of the cash crop market and its influence on the international market. This began the transition from a society with slaves to a slave society. Sugar, Rice, Tobacco, and Cotton drove the market and slavery was at the center of production, the ruling class had become slave owners and every social relationship mimicked slavery in some way (Perera, 2017). With society set up like this everyone aspired to enter into the slave holding class examining the memoirs in Austin Reeds "The life and Adventures of a haunted convict" can illustrate the lifestyle experienced by a slave and the misgivings it brought to the slaves as they entered from the Charter generation into the Plantation Generation.

After Bacon's rebellion and the weakening of the middle passage slavery took a violent turn with the treatment of slaves. This new plantation generation was stripped of rights and forced into hard labor, with business importing mostly Africans at the height of slavery to reduce costs they were minimally cared for and often tortured to reinforce slave master attitudes. Meanwhile the north was at the height of prison constructions and utilizing the prison workforce in labor in similar slave-like conditions. The gearing of societies attitude toward slaves changing from the charter generation to the plantation generation is an important understand because it is the attitude that drove the paradigm shift of societies with slaves to slave societies. It is also the racist reinforcement of enslavement or prison institutions that leads to further mass incarceration in the United States post revolution (Perera, 2017).

Looking at Alex Lichtenstein, “Good Roads and Chain Gangs in the Progressive South” Even after emancipation and the decline of slavery another form of legalized slavery was being formed in the prison system. As early as 1846 in Alabama a system called convict leasing had become the norm. This process involved a convicted criminal which during these years constituted mostly ex slaves, minorities, criminals, and native Americans being given to a company for unpaid slave labor at the benefit of being paid by the company for the convict. This system was fueled by the racist attitudes and institutions of the time allowing a legalized form of slavery.

Indian Removal & Reservations

Post revolution another movement that would see a large group of people enslaved, relocated and confined, or assimilated, and that is the Indian removal movement. It started as early as 1819 when congress appropriates $10,000 to "civilize" Native Americans in the United States expansion west. It began with people of "good moral character" being sent to teach and convert Indian populations to Christianity and teach them the culture of European settlers because they were perceived as savages (Perera, 2017). This missionary effort was succeeded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs being created under the war department in 1824. This saw 21 boarding schools creating for the purpose of assimilating native Americans. White men also married Indian women to gain access to Indian lands. Later the movement became more gruesome in 1830 with the Indian removal act and later with the discovery of gold in the Cherokee nation, in 1831 Georgia passes laws to strip Cherokees of their land and rights in Nation V Georgia. The move of Native Americans westward began in large moving over 50,000 by 1837 (Perera, 2017).

Though the overarching subjugation of Native Americans was well underway the worst was still ahead. The push westward never ending for the United States after the revolution and the continuous discovery of natural resources continually fueling the drive. With the aforementioned racist attitudes still fresh in mind and well within the law Slavery and the Prison system were playing supplemental roles in Indian subjugation. In 1851 Congress passes the Indian Appropriations act creating a reservation system forcing natives to live on allotted land (Perera, 2017). They were also restricted in where they could hunt or fish. by 1868 the United states had used 245 "treaties" to claim 450 million acres of land from native peoples. Later in 1871 the Indian Appropriations act was changed and no longer recognized Indian sovereignty and were now subject to American laws. Over 200 schools had appear for reeducation by 1887 (Perera, 2017). The reservation system had emerged as a third zone of enclosure along side plantations and the prison system also stripping the identity of a group of people to bend to the will of a system.

Resources / References

Morris, N., & Rothman, D. J. (1995). The Oxford history of the prison: The practice of punishment in western society. New York: Oxford University Press

Lichtenstein, A. (1993). Good Roads and Chain Gangs in the Progressive South: "The Negro Convict is a Slave" The Journal of Southern History, 59(1), 85-110

Perera, J. (2017). Class 4 HST 306: Rise of Mass Incarceration [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://myasucourses.asu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-15806392-dt-content-rid-102896147_1/xid-102896147_1

Reed, A. (2016). The Life and Adventures of a Haunted Convict, or the inmate of a gloomy prison. With the Mysteries and Miseries of the New York House of Reffuge and Auburn Prison Unmasked..