Van Dulmen: Egregious Punishment For Women

The punishment was decided upon depending on the crime. Out of all of them, hanging was the most severe and was very common. During the 19th century, the number of criminals that were punished by hanging rose to about 200. However, hanging was not the only punishment used. Flogging, beheading, and transportation were also common. Flogging is the act of beating the human body with whips, rods, switches, etc. Beheading was the complete separation of the head and body typically by blade, sword, axe, or mechanical means. Transportation was the act of relocating inmates to different places to work and sometimes sending them to the armed forces. Due to the significant number of criminals that were being sentenced with the death penalty, people named

The delivery of punishment has changed significantly over the centuries. Up until the 19th century in England, imprisonment was not regarded as a punishment, it was merely used while the offender waited to be sentenced to their ‘real’ punishment (Bull, 2010; Hirst, 1998). Corporal punishment such as flogging, branding and mutilation, death by hanging, and transportation to other continents such as America and Australia were common punitive measures through the ages, until well into the 1800’s (Newburn, 2003). Although these extreme penalties are no longer acceptable or practised by criminal courts in England or Australia, in some ways, the past has

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.

A major change through medieval times were types of punishment. Usually, types of punishment relied on social hierarchy and the crime you had committed. Some of the punishments included being placed in stocks, have to drink poison, be pulled apart by horses, banishment and burnt on the stake. (Medieval punishment wikispace.com) (blogspot.com) (australia.gov.au). Most punishments purpose, were to torture people or humiliate.

Some other punishments were leather strap used on to hit anywhere on the body, beating with fists, and until unconscious, burning and scalding the hands, starvation, public

Crime and Punishment in the Elizabethan era was very unusual and cruel when we look at it from today’s standards. Punishment was very harsh and most things they did back then was completely normal for them but by today it’s insane what they used to do to criminals. Speaking of which whom they counted as “criminals” was insane as well as their definition of a criminal. The crimes committed directly affected the type of punishment someone one would receive for committing such an act. Crimes and punishments to us now seem completely wrong and just plain strange.

The main method that was used to execute was the guillotine. The guillotine was a device with a blade which killed people by “beheading” them. This device killed thousands, and amongst those were king Louis XVI and his queen Marie Antoinette. This was “regarded as a humane way to execute criminals” (Document F).

There has been a lack of interest in female convicts as a subject of historical discussion. The history of female convicts has traditionally been incorporated into the framework of male convicts with grave reference to the male convict experience. The convict women who were transported to Australia on ships Elizabeth 5th and Henry Wellesley in 1836 faced extreme difficulty in achieving freedom and reputability. It is the view of many historians that “women were incorporated into a pattern initially designed to accommodate men”. This essay will investigate the origins and characteristics of a sample of 10 female convicts arriving to Sydney in1836. The essay aims to establish an alternative impression of the female convicts that were deemed damned whores, skill-less and prostitutes. In agreement with the 4 of the 5 studied historians, I hold the view that the women were the victims of a “repressive patriarchal society” and the appellation of female convicts as ‘damned whores’ is totally inadequate. I believe they were not members of a professional criminal class; they were humans with basic human needs, doing anything they could to survive.

During the early colonial era, punishments were often determined by the crime, as well a fine to the court. Many of these crimes were merely "complaints" such as "singing and fiddling at midnight" and were merely punished with a fine to both the court, and to the people affected (Document 4-3, Pg. 4). Punishments are determined by what the crime was, the severity, the offender's race, religion, and the number of times that this person as committed any crime. Punishments often reflected the crime, for example, a man convicted of beating an individual would be sentenced to being whipped, and a man convicted of theft would have to pay large fines to the court as well as to the person that they stole from. Overall, the methods of punishment and

When woman was in the water “the women usually drowned.” (The Renaissance: Crime and Punishment). Another tool was the amputation saw. And the body would be in terrible pain because “it was used to remove a limb slowly and painfully.” (The Renaissance: Crime and Punishment). Beheading was used for the higher-class people, “because it was considered a more honorable way to die.” (Elizabethan Crime and Punishment).

Next, the punishments that a person could get will vary on what they committed and how bad the punishment the people thought they should get. The punishments in the Elizabethan Age are very brutal because back then, they believed that violence was acceptable and a natural habit for mankind. The Great Punishment is the worst punishment a person could get. The felon will be hung, but they will not die while being hanged. They will take the felon down, quarter their body while still alive, and bury them in the ground. Quartering someone’s body is to cut their body in quarters. Torturing a person would come next to the Great Punishment. The will put the felon on a rack, in a collar, or even burn them with a branding iron on the cheek, back, or leg. Other general punishments include being decapitated and putting their head on top of a post, they could be branded on the cheek or burned on the left hand, whipped out in public for everyone to see, they could be sent to the military, be sent to correction facilities, hung to die at the place where the felon had committed their crime, or they could even be beheaded. If the crimes were extremely severe the felon would have the reign of “Bloody Mary” put on them. Bloody Mary is a legend that appears in the mirror when her name is called multiple times and appears bloody. The Elizabethan Age was very serious about the punishments that they gave their felons.

In the roman times crucifixion was the punishments. Nails are driven through the wrists and ankles, you are then left to die in agony. Death takes hours and hours. Another punishment was being fed to lions in the morning, but in the afternoon it was man against man. The fighters had nothing to protect them from the animal - no helmets or shields. The crowd would shout KILL HIM, FLOG HIM AND BURN HIM.

Female Criminality consists of several outdated statistics regarding the rise of female offending. However, in viewing the current research on the subject, it appears that the overall theme of this dissertation's discussion is still relevant despite changes in the accompanying statistics as seen in viewing the following topics: the rise in female offending; the continual rise that females are committing more crimes than men; and the types of crimes that women are committing. In viewing Bruce Gross's 2009 article, "Battle of the Sexes: The Nature of Female Delinquency," as well as Elizabeth Cauffman's 2008 article, "Understanding the Female Offender," one can begin to see where current statistics regarding the female criminal lie.

In Gates, NY five women were arrested for burglary. The crime was followed by an incident that took place on Elvira street in late January. The five women kicked open a door to a residence, went inside and jumped a 14-year old girl. They used pepper spray and kicked her several times while recording it on the phone. Police say the motive was a dispute over boyfriends. Three out of the five are juvenile offenders. Idalis Santiago, 16, and Jarret Lewis, 17 were apart of it. Neighbors believe these women should be charged as adults. Police agree and wants to serve this as an example of crimes that’s shouldn’t be tolerated. Bullying is a major problem and hopefully this sends a message to others that this will not be tolerated says the Lieutenant.

Much more women during these times were put to death then they are now. For the most part, women were normally hung unless they committeed adultuary, which in that case they were burnt to death. Even though gender equality may not have seemed much different during those times, they were equally as bad because even though women were executed more often…the way they were executed was very clean cut and straight to the point rather then all the different execution methods that men were exposed too.