NCJ Number
37426
Date Published
1976
Length
210 pages
Annotation
THIS BOOK TRACES THE DIRECT AND INDIRECT INFLUENCES OF THE SOCIAL INSTITUTION OF CHATTEL SLAVERY ON THE EVOLUTION OF PENAL SYSTEMS AND PRACTICES IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES.
Abstract
THE AUTHOR SHOWS THAT DOMESTIC PUNISHMENTS, INFLICTED ON SLAVES BY THEIR MASTERS, LATER BECAME LEGAL PUNISHMENTS FOR THE CRIMES COMMITTED BY LOW-CALSS FREEMEN EVENTUALLY TO BECOME LEGAL PUNISHMENTS FOR OFFENDERS REGARDLESS OF SOCIAL STATUS. A DOMINANT FORCE IN THIS DEVELOPMENT IS THE CASTE AND CLASS STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY THAT IS REFLECTED IN THE DETERMINATION OF WHAT CONDUCT SHOULD BE DEFINED AS CRIMINAL; WHO SHOULD BE PUNISHED; AND WHAT THE PUNISHMENT SHOULD BE. THE BOOK GIVES AN ACCOUNT OF SLAVERY AND PUNISHMENT IN ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME AND IN THE MEDIEVAL GERMANIC STATES; GALLEY SLAVES IN MARITIME COUNTRIES; PENAL SLAVERY ON PUBLIC WROKS (FORTIFICATIONS); THE RISE OF HOUSES OF CORRECTION; THE NAVAL ARSENAL PRISONS IN FRANCE, SPAIN, AND ITALY; THE BRITISH 'HULKS' (AND THE PENAL SURVITUDE THAT REPLACED THEM); PENAL SLAVERY IN RUSIA; AND SLAVERY AND PUNISHMENT IN THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH, WITH ITS CONVICT LESSEE SYSTEM, CHAIN GANGS, PENAL FARMS AND PLANATATIONS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)