History of Prisons

Here is a video of the brief history of the Prison system in the United States from the colonial days to the 1970's.

Topics discussed in the history of the prison system will be: why it was created, what it was like to be a prisoner, experimentation involving eugenics, and the convict labor leasing system.

Why the prison system was created

The prison system in the United States started during the Antebellum era. Before this time there weren't any prisons to hold those who broke the law. Instead, the punishments for offenses were fines, whippings, standing in the gallows, and ultimately death for those who were deemed unable to be reformed. These were used as ways to publicly humiliate those who broke the laws. This method of punishment was seen as being ineffective. It was thought that criminals could not be reformed through punishment so instead they would serve time in a prison to reflect upon the wrongs they committed. The solution to this problem was the creation of the carceral system.

Life inside the first prison systems

The first prisons that criminals were confined were not like they are in todays carceral system. The environment was casual, undisciplined, and not controlled as like it is now. As a result there were a lot of escapes and riots in the system and something needed to be done to bring order to the prisons. To create an effective system in which criminals could be released back to society with confidence that they would be law abiding citizens, reformatories were created. Through the lessons of good order and discipline and providing a common structure for the prisoners it was believed that the prisoners could be cured of their criminal nature. This brought about two types of prison plans: the Auburn system and the Pennsylvania prison system.

The Auburn system was a congregate system of labor, control, and solidarity. Life of this prison system consisted of waking up in a cell of your own (no prisoners were to socialize at any given time), going to your first meal where all convicts were brought, then to work shops to work on the trade given to them by the prison where they would work on barrels, clothes, shoes, buttons, and other goods. The prisoners were not allowed to speak or socialize in any manner because it was believed to take their sense of self away. This was used because it was believed that to change ones nature you first needed to take away who they were and rebuild them into a proper citizen of the state.

Courtesy of New York State Archives

Courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia

The other option for a prison system was the Pennsylvania system. Pennsylvania system was based on the principle that solitary confinement brings forth penitence and encourages reformation. In 1829 the Eastern State Penitentiary, on Cherry Hill in Philadelphia, applied this so-called separate philosophy. Prisoners were kept in solitary confinement in cells 16 feet high, nearly 12 feet long, and 7.5 feet wide. An exercise yard, completely enclosed to prevent contact among prisoners, was attached to each cell. Prisoners saw no one except institution officers and an occasional visitor. It was eventually done away with because many people believed it was too costly to maintain a system of extreme solitary confinement and the Auburn system was implemented as a better option.

In 1825, the House of Refuge was opened for children deemed too young for state prison. It was a school for the reformation of juveniles caught breaking the law. Much like the early prison systems there were escapes made by the children being held at the reformatory. The punishments for breaking the rules were confinement, lashings against the back, and hitting the fingers of the offender with a wooden stick.

Courtesy of New York Public Library

At first when the prison system was created it was believed that the criminals acted upon decisions made through thought. Weighing the positive and negative effects of the decisions they made and therefore could be reformed and lead to make the right decisions and become disciplined individuals. Although in the early 1800's this belief changed and it aimed to find out if it was genetics and environment that dictates the wrongful nature of these prisoners. This belief that it was genetics that controlled who people were and their nature as humans was called Eugenics.

Sir Francis Galton was a well educated anthropologist and sociologist. He first coined the term eugenics in 1883. His initial focus was on positive eugenics in which he believed that a better class of people could emerge from the use of selective procreation and classes of citizens. Although this focus shifted to negative eugenics, which means that to improve society steps to decrease of population of inferior people such as criminals and the insane was necessary. This belief became a part of experimentation in the prison systems and asylums.

Courtesy of Galton.org

Eugenics in Prisons

How was one designated as an inferior human?

Tests conducted by a staff of eugenic field workers would be given to prisoners and juveniles to determine whether or not they were of sound mind and well educated given their race. Many of these IQ tests truthfully didn't test for anything based on the questions asked like "how would you react if someone hit you?" and the results for these tests were categorized as idiot, imbecile, or moron”. It was believed at the time in these institutions that to prevent the growth of degenerate citizens actions could be taken such as sterilizing men and women. These were generally directed at blacks and latinos. (insert supporting documentation)

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