Past+Prison+Reform-Annelise+and+Nichole

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=Past Prison Reform=

Over time, prison systems have evolved in a variety of ways. They have changed from being merely a way to punish, into a system for rehabilitation for the prisoners. The systems also evolved to help the prisoners on an individual basis for their own internal struggles. Also, the need for different prison systems to accommodate different types of prisoners sparked many different prison reforms.

Competing Prison Systems
Between 1819 and 1823, arguments over the type of rehabilitation methods started one movement of prison reform. The 'Auburn System', where prisoners worked in the company of other prisoners, but could not associate with one another, was one system that was advocated for.

The opposing method, the 'Pennsylvania System', focused on complete isolation with no contact between prisoners as a time for reflection. Both of these systems reflect that criminals are not entirely evil, but have been led astray. In order to help rehabilitate the prisoners, they used heavy teachings from the bible to teach them morals and teach them honestly, self-discipline, and hard work. However, using the bible as a rehabilitating tool was largely forgotten by the 1850's in favor of the lockstep. The Auburn System won out over the Pennsylvania System because of the heavy cost of solitary confinement. One system reformers desperately wanted to abolish was the 'Convict Leasing System'. Under the convict leasing system, private firms paid a fee to the state to house and work prisoners. The prisoners were forced to work for these firms, so the firms would not have to hire their own employees. Private business and labor always opposed this system as unfair competition, because they had to hire their own workers that were not required to be there by law. In 1887, Congress prohibited the use of federal prisoners for contract labor.

Since the convict leasing system was abolished, state prisons no longer wanted to hold federal prisoners. This forced the federal government to build its own prisons for federal offenses. In 1891, the first federal prisons were authorized by the Three Prisons Act.

Death Penalty Reform in Prisons
The death penalty reform became popular throughout the 1800's, but actually started as early as the 1600's. Although it was not yet accepted, in 1682, William Penn tried to establish a "Great Law" where prisoners would only face the death penalty for serious crimes. This law restricted the death penalty to murder and replaced it with prescribed fines or hard labor. Instead of being put to death these people would be put to hard labor and forced to work in "houses of correction" as means of harsh correction. This establishment was in place for about 30 years, but after the death of William Penn they reinstated the old punishments.

After the American Revolution, as states began to form new constitutions, Quaker legislatures in Pennsylvania began to eliminate the death penalty for property offenses and sodomy. The new punishment for such offenses was 10 years in prison. They also said that prisons should not be a basis to punish, but to "correct and reform" offenders.

This became what many historians view as the first jail in the United States of America. Other states quickly took the ideas from Walnut Street, and by the 1820's imprisonment became the favored way to punish criminals through the Northeast and parts of the Midwest.

The Mentally Disabled
In the early 1840's, the struggle for the rights of prisoners who had mental disabilities, such as the insane, became a prominent issue. During this time, an influential figure emerged to lead the movement for the rights of the criminally insane, Dorthea Dix. Dix grew up in Massachusetts, and at an early age observed the mistreatment of the mentally disabled in prisons. Dix felt it was unfit to house the criminally insane with other criminals, as they could not be held fully accountable for their actions.This lead her to, with the help of another reformer, Samuel Gridley Howe, start investigating the condition of the insane in prisons around Massachusetts, and then in other states. She started a national campaign to construct state-supported hospitals for the mentally ill.

** Women **

The primary principals for female reformers were that women prisoners should be held separate from male prisoners because they needed their own type of rehabilitation, such as domestic skills and sexual morality. Another principal was that the female prisons should be run only by women so they could help their "fallen sisters". At the beginning of the 1870's reformers were given permission by the legislature to implement these ideas into the prisons for women. Strangely enough, African American women were usually confined in male prisons.

In 1790, Philadelphia's Walnut Street jail became divided into different prison cells. Twenty-four cells were saved for men and twelve were saved for women.



In 1854, the state of Massachusetts formed the first training school for girls, the Lancaster Industrial School for Girls. While some people saw this school as a refuge for girls whose families had not been able to protect them, others, such as parents, saw it as a useful place to send their adolescent daughter when she was too hard to control. This school was used to educate girls who were difficult to control.

In the 1820s, specialized institutions specifically for white juvenile males were built by state officials and philanthropists in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston.

**Bibliography**
"Crime and Punishment (1815-1850)." American Eras. 1997. History Resource Center: World. Web. 4 May 2010. .

"Prison." Dictionary of American History. 3rd ed. 2003. galegroup.com. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. .

"Reform Institutions." Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History. 2001. History Reference Center. Web. 6 May 2010. .

"Rights of the Convicted." History Reference Center. N.p., 2010. Web. 4 May 2010. .

Schoenherr, Steve. "Prison Reforms in American History." Prison Reforms in American History. University of San Diego, 30 Mar. 2009. Web. 6 May 2010. .