Mass Incarceration In Colonial America

Bruce Western’s, Punishment and Inequality in America, discusses the era of the “Prison Boom” that occurs from 1970-2003—when incarceration rates climbed almost five times higher than they had been in the twentieth century—while stating the effects and consequences that mass imprisonment created within the United States penal system. By discussing the disparities of incarceration between sex, age, race and education level, and how post-incarceration affects opportunities such as marriage and high-waged employment. Western provides an analysis of how the risk of incarceration accumulates over an individual’s lifespan.

A large influx of colored people created many problems. First, there was a major problem in the availability in housing, of which was responded to with racism. This is the root for the hatred between the black and white communities. There wasn’t enough housing in the “black belt” community, so Negroes began to spill into white neighborhoods. The very existence of a colored person in a neighborhood would lower the property values. When a house was sold to a colored person, the rent for the house would be higher than the previous, white owner’s rent. Real Estate companies believed that “it is a matter of common knowledge that house after house…whether under white or black agents, comes to the Negro at an increased rental” (Sandburg 46). They sold housing despite the fact that “the Negro in Chicago, paid a lower wage than the white workman” (47), and that black people would have

According to Daily Life... (Kaldin, 2000) the population of suburban areas during the 1950s had started to double from 36 million to 74 million. This rise in suburban residents had continued from 1950 to 1970.When more families had started to move to suburban areas, they came together by adding things such as playgrounds, libraries, and schools to the neighborhood to benefit their kids. This “flight to the suburbs” was difficult for blacks because of the racism in society at the time. Many black people were ignored and shunned at this time in society, so it was hard for blacks to move into suburbs knowing that they could be ridiculed in these areas because of their skin color.

The Penitentiary Era 1790 to 1825 mass prison building era housed many prisoners with the goals of rehabilitation; deterrence and allowing the inmates to work during the day and when they returned were put into solitary confinement (Ortmeier 2006, 391). This new era was too focused on making prisoners think about their crimes and learn skills in workshops and general labor to reenter society as a productive member. Capital and corporal punishment were looked down upon by many and they did not actually fix the problems of rising crime. Often time’s prisoners were held in a large jail cells, men and women alike that resulted in rape and fighting among each other. The strengths of this era looked to keep prisoners safe and at times lessen

In 1865 Congress passed the thirteenth Amendment stating” Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall

In 1865, the American government successfully passed the thirteenth amendment: ending the institution of slavery in America. “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” The thirteenth amendment opened up economic opportunity for African Americans as slaves were no longer owned by someone else. However, not long after the thirteenth amendment was passed, former slaveholders and southerners created the black codes. Black Codes were a set of laws intended to restrict African American freedoms, causing them to go into low wage labor. A black code passed in the state of South Carolina stated, “To do farm work, a black in South Carolina had to have a written contract, attested to by white witnesses; failure to obtain one before commencing to work was a misdemeanor

Despite efforts to gradually transition by Abraham Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation, Blacks into citizenship, slavery continued to be legal until the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865 Davidson et al. (2011). The amendment declared that physical bondage or involuntary servitude was outlawed in the US. However, both the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th amendment failed to release blacks and integrate them into society,

The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.

“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”(US Const. amend. XIII, sec. 1) The 13th Amendment formally abolished slavery in the United States on December 6, 1865. The Amendment said that slavery or involuntary servitude was illegal

After a long history of slavery, declaration of independence and a civil war finally, on February 1, 1865, Abraham Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution outlawing slavery throughout the United States. But even after the American Civil War, African Americans were still abused and some even used as slaves. They would be arrested by law men and sent to prison to be used as workers that would be sold to companies to

The Constitution states that, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” The thirteenth amendment abolished slavery for everyone except prisoners. Even now, prisoners can work for little to no pay as a punishment for crime. Commentators in the documentary talked about the thirteenth amendment and proved how even after the amendment was passed, African Americans were still enslaved.

From that day in 1619 at Jamestown, Virginia when the first African slaves were brought to aid in crop production there has been a driving force that has always had a hand in making America the place that it is today. When those first slaves were brought here there wasn’t rally a plan or model for slavery they were treated as indentured servants, the only difference was they weren’t citizens and not subject to the rules they followed. The profitability of the farming industry in the colonies and the loss of workers as the indentured servants worked off their debts, in 1641 blacks became personal property of the people who had originally bartered for them.

In Josh Sides’ Straight Into Compton, a nod to the infamous NWA album, the author described an in depth case study on the polarized history of the geographical and racial divide of the Los Angeles suburb of Compton. He writes about Compton in the early twentieth century, being a predominantly white neighborhood, occupied by blue collar factory works. Racial covenants of the 1920’s prevented the migration of African Americans into Compton until large scale migration occurred in the 1950’s and 60’s. It was discussed that because of the growing black population, racism and other acts were committed in order to prevent and curb this growth. The thriving city, although full of racial division, had faced daunting challenges during the 1960, as a

Racial segregation has had a long history in Chicago. While separation by nationality had always been apparent in the city, with neighborhoods typically being dominated by a certain ethnicity, no group of Chicagoans experienced the degree of segregation that African Americans faced in everything from the housing districts to public services. Forced to live only in designated areas by de facto segregation, redlining, and other tactics, they had limited chances to escape the cycle of danger and discrimination of the city. Confined to only their deteriorating neighborhoods,they had little chance.

During the time of my great grandparent first days, Bolivia tried to copy this constructing the national prison of San Pedro in the city of La Paz (political capital of the State), but there was a big gap between the system, the laws that they wanted to execute and the national reality; since the State did not have the disposition to assume the tutelage and forming and disciplinary responsibility of the prisoners, an oligarchical society that never ceases to criminalize indians, who are not recognized as persons with rights and that economically do not deserve any inversion from the justice system.