Crime And Punishment In Victorian Era Essay

Between 1700 and 1900 a system familiar to our eyes emerged as a result of important changes. The 1800s very harsh and a lot of crime was done in that time. The laws, punishment and jail were similar, also very different from today's. In the 1800s the punishment was much more survivor and stick to it more than now. If you lived back in that time, it was usual to walk the streets and you see a hanging happening. This showing the cruelty and none caring of the people and how harsh the punishment was.

Throughout the years, the use of imprisonment has varied, along with its influences of society. It is thought that although prisons have been around since the thirteenth century, prisons as we know them now to be have only been around for the last three centuries. The first uses of prisons were not seen as a form of punishment instead they were used as a way of making people do something. People would be held in prison until they paid their debts, or awaiting trial and then leading up to their sentence. McGowen (1995) suggests that from the early 1700s ‘bridewells’ a house of correction have existed, however at that time being used merely for vagrants and drunks. At the end of the sixteenth century there was a shift in punishment to imprisonment, along with this came a new, more humane idea of reform. Criminals would spend their days of prison carrying out hard labour. However after the American Revolution, imprisonment took a step back and there was another change. There was mass overcrowding within the prison service and although the death penalty was still being used it was a symbol of the power of the state. Therefore, an everyday way of dealing with offenders would be transportation to the colonies, being either Australia or America.

All the victims of Jack are truly unknown, but it is believed that he was only responsible for five of the killings that took place in the London area. There were other killings that happened around the same time as Jack’s, but these murders were dismissed as the work of “copy-cats” looking to share the spotlight with “The Ripper.” The five women that were accepted as the victims of “Jack the Ripper” were Mary Ann (Polly) Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catharine Eddowes, and Mary Jane (Marie Jeanette) Kelly. It is also presumed that Martha Tabram was a victim of Jack but the exact number is uncertain. Some sources say that he killed as few as four women while others say that he killed a minimum of nine and mostly likely killed several more. The first killing in this spree began on Tuesday, August 7, 1888 with the murder of Martha Tabram. Next came the slaying of Mary Ann Nichols on Friday, August 31, 1888, and that death was followed with the murder of Annie Chapman on Saturday, September 8, 1888. Then on Sunday, September 30, 1888 came the killings of Elizabeth Stride and Catharine Eddowes. It is uncertain whether or not the murder of Stride was

Crime and punishment in the 1800’s was very unlike today. Punishments were much more violent and severe back then with crime rates being high. However, a lot of the crime was unaccounted for due to how easy it was to get away with crimes back then. Compared to today, where as crime rates are increasing daily. As such, crime rates today surpass the rates in the 1800s. However, punishments are not as fatal today compared to the past. Almost all criminals in the 1800s were penalized with death in some way, typically by hanging. According to Gooii, some crimes, such as treason or murder, were considered serious crimes, but other ‘minor’ offences, such as picking pockets or stealing food, could also be punished with the death sentence.

Having extreme, agonizing, punishments was not out of the ordinary during the 17th century. The punishments and crimes were very unsystematic, and often times very foul. There were punishments that were as minor as carting,and there were punishments as severe as the death penalty.Throughout the 17th century there were a variety of punishments for different crimes that were commited.

During the 17 and 18th century the British legal system was incredibly harsh, distributing death penalties for often minor offences, the aim of this was to deter individuals from committing crime. There was very

Crime and punishment in victorian times was divergent than it is today. In victorian times , the sentencing and punishment was very stricted. The petty crimes were mostly likely sentenced to death and hung. For example, John Walker was convicted of stealing onions and was sentenced seven years for it. If anyone stole food from the grocery store in this era and got caught the store would most likely call law enforcement and give them a warning and let them go. That is very different than how they treated it in victorian times. Criminals in victorian times were treated different than they are treated today.

Jack the ripper the notorious and legendary London murderer started his reign of terror in the August of 1888. Jack the ripper is a fairly difficult character to find proper information on (regrettably noted) however his murders are not. It is speculated that he killed more than five people but the Canonical five are a definite. All of them where prostitutes from the Whitechapel area of London; a poor and deteriorating side of town. The first of these murders was Mary Nichols she was murdered on August 31st 1888 (www.jack the ripper.org). The murders that happened after followed in this order. Annie Chapman was the second of the five main victims she was murdered on September 8th 1888(www.jack the ripper.org). The third and fourth victims shared the same day of death with a peculiar twist. Jack the Ripper was known to deface and mutilate all the bodies in which he slayed, Elizabeth Stride the third victim was wholly intact(www.bbc.co.uk/history). Both Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes died on the same day September 30th 1888(www.jack the ripper.org). The final victim to be famously associated with the case of Jack the Ripper was Mary Kelly who was killed on November 9th 1888. All of the victims were more than likely unaware of their fates beforehand, he typically knocked them out before he would kill and maim them. Jack the Ripper's scenes in which he left the corpses were calculated, he was informed and educated on how it is he done what he did. It was believed at the time that he was potentially a doctor or a butcher due to the tools needed to do what was done to the bodies. In addition to this the cuts left on the body showed that the killer had knowledge of the human anatomy and the way it worked. He usually always started the

The ideal of imprisonment did not exist during the colonial time. The penitentiary system was a nineteenth-century invention. The colonial, period was hierarchical, and the servants were supposed to be kept in place.

Once the accused was convicted of his crime, the court moved into the punishment phase. Interestingly enough, the process of deciding punishment was quite a flawed one. The reason for this was that most people's perceptions of criminals in the beginning and mid 1800s was that they were people of the working class who were too lazy to work (Emsley). This led to a bias in which working class people seemed to be receiving harsher punishments than any other class except one (Emsley). Although rare, if a woman was convicted of a crime, they would receive some of the harshest punishments (Victorian Crime) The reason for this was because it was perceived as unladylike as “Not only had they transgressed the law, they transgressed perceptions of womanhood,”

In the Elizabethan era, doing a crime was the worst mistake of all, depending on how big your crime was, people had to know that their lives were at risk. Every crime was big before, even “crimes of treason and offenses against the state were treated with that murder and rape today.”(Elizabethan Crime and Punishment) “Offenses such as manslaughter, robbery, rape, piracy and capital crimes entitled one to hanging, usually in the town square.” (Elizabethan crime and Punishment) During Queen Elizabeth’s time, the punishments were designed to fit the crime committed. A person may complain about the consequences of crimes one commits, but looking back at the Elizabethan times, punishments are far less brutal now than how they were then.

In order to determine what the law was in the Elizabethan Age for crime and punishment, you must research crime and punishment in that age, the laws and the acts. In the Elizabethan Age there were many different crimes. Each of those crimes had their own punishment or punishments. They were very strict about what they could and could not do in this age. If you have ever thought about planning a crime, you would have to really think about the punishment you would receive.

During Queen Elizabeth’s rule, the poor were in a plight where they were both mistreated and in need of economic support which Elizabeth provided as well as corrected the mistreatment of the poor. In “Crime and Punishment in the Elizabethan Era” punishments were usually reserved for criminals who broke a law. The homeless and beggars, however, regardless of why they are homeless were abused. They were rounded up by constables who tried them before a court and they were whipped until they left town or they might have been placed in stocks to be publicly humiliated. This blatant abuse of the poor did not stay throughout the entirety of Elizabeth’s reign as in “Elizabethan Class System” a law was passed that legally distinguished the differences

For centuries governments have acted on behalf of society removing and punishing criminals with the goal of protecting its citizens. Criminals were arrested and locked-up in jails awaiting their sentencing. Once sentenced, they were publically humiliated, tortured, or killed. Early forms punishments were cruel and mostly focused on retribution.

Short term political factors include the result in the Slave Trade by the government and what happened because of that. The government’s response towards crimes was to make their punishments harsher, but this didn’t have the affect they wanted. Getting hung, transportation or being banished from England to one of Britain’s distant colonies, were the most common ways to be punished after committing a crime. Their plan failed immensely; hanging prisoners turned into a social event, families would come and observe, eventually turning it into a carnival-felt situation. Despite the government making their punishments harder, thinking the result would reduce the numbers, it remained the same therefore Britain’s prisons were a large concern. Convicts