Colonial Punishments

Those who do wrong must be punished!

Whipping at the Cart’s Tayle

Whipping at the Cart’s Tayle

• Usually a whipping pole was used instead of a cart’s tayle.

• A specified number of lashings was given – no more than forty. Typically it was 10.

Whipping at the Cart’s TayleApplied to Native Americans and

white men for: • Stealing• Shooting fowl on the Sabbath• Swearing • Selling rum to the Native

Americans• Perjury and lying• For intemperate drinking• Name calling• Picking pockets • Throwing out the suds of dirty

clothes on the open streets.

The Branks

The Branks• An iron cage covering the entire

head, with a spiked plate or flat tongue of iron to be placed in the mouth and over the tongue.

• Often called the “Gossip’s Bridle” – if the offender spoke, she was cruelly hurt.

• The “Cleft Stick” was used in place of the branks, and pinched the tongue when one spoke.

The Branks

Who was it used on?• Gossiping men and

women.• Slander and mischief

making occurred more often among men than among women.

Laying by the heels in the Bilboes

Laying by the heels in the Bilboes

• A long heavy bar having two sliding shackles.

• The legs of the offender were thrust in the shackles and the body rested on the ground as the legs were suspended in the air.

Laying by the heels in the Bilboes

Who was it used on?• Drunkards• “For speaking

seditious (rebellious) words against the government here established”.

• Cursing• Stealing boards

The Stocks

The Stocks

• The offender sat on a low bench with his legs extended.

• Suffered public ridicule

The Stocks• The first offender to be placed

in the stocks in Boston was the carpenter who made them, because he overcharged the town – “He is to be set an houre in the stocks”.

• Another individual was “made to sit in the stocks in the market place for one houre each day for two days, where he could be plainly seen by every maid and widow in the little town” all because he had two wives.

The Pillary

The Pillary

A platform with a framework above it where the human head was confined in a tight grasp and held up to the public gaze.

The Pillary

In 1671 a politician was sentenced to the pillary because “he endeavored to prevent the Providence of God by putting in several votes for himself”.

The PillaryWhat other offenses send you to the pillary?• Putting large sums of money in the contribution box in

meeting to induce others to give largely, and then taking the gift back again.

• Dishonest bakers had to sit with dough on their heads.

• Women who stole stockings.• Persons passing counterfeit money.

The Ducking-Stool

The Ducking-Stool

• A stool attached to a pole on the bank of a pond or river, where the chair/stool hung just over the water’s edge.

• The offender was plunged into the water as often as the sentence directed.

The Ducking-Stool

Who took the plunge?• Scolding women• Slanderers• Brawlers• Women of light carriage• Unruly paupers• Brewers of bad beer• Bakers of bad bread• Quarrelsome married couple- couples

had to be tied back to back.• Women accused of witchcraft

Public Penance

Public Penance

• A person who went against the teaching of the Church would have to sit on a “repentance stool in full view of the church membership”.

Public PenanceDid you know that Judge Samuel Sewall, a magistrate who sat in judgment at the Salem Witch Trials and those in Boston, became convinced that many innocent lives were sacrificed and that his decision was unjust. His public confession was read aloud at the Sabbath service while the Judge sat facing the entire congregation with “bowed head and aching heart”?

The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter

• A specific letter or even sometimes an entire phrase proclaiming the nature of the crime was required to be worn by the offender for a certain number of hours in the market place.

The Scarlet Letter

What did the letters stand for?• “B” – worn by women for blasphemy• “D” – worn by men for drunkenness• “A Wonton Creature” – worn for interrupting the

preacher• “ill behaved” – a sign held up by women and their

husbands had to pay a fine for their “ill behavior”.

Branding

Branding• The letters were

specifically defined and could be enjoined.

• Branding was extremely painful.

Branding

What letters were used? • “SL” – stood for seditious libel and could be burnt on

either cheek.• “M” – stood for man slaughter.• “T” – stood for thief and was branded on the left hand.• “R” – stood for rogue or vagabond and was branded on

the shoulder.• “F” – could be branded on the cheek for forgery.• “B” – stood for burglar and was branded on the right hand

for the first offence and the left for the second.• “I” – for the man who sold arms and powder to the Native

Americans.

The Burning of Books

The Burning of Books

Books were ordered to be burned for:

• “being stuffed with notorious lyes and scandals”.

• For rebellion against the government.

• For sharp criticism of the Court or general thought of the times.

The Burning of BooksWho burned the Books?

It was the duty of the hangman to burn the books.

Who was the hangman?The hangman was usually a reprieved prisoner under sentence of death.

Where there lots of hangmen running around the countryside?No, it was often difficult to find a man who would consent to be a hangman and burn the books.

Your punishment is now over.