There is no doubt that America has changed dramatically over the years, especially in the correctional system. When it came to the eighteenth century, it was a fascinating period in the history of capital punishment for crime [ CITATION Jac11 l 1033 ]. When we think of punishments for criminals in the 1800's we commonly believed in hanging, public humiliation, banishment, and whipping/fogging just to name a few. When it came to punishments hanging occurred for murder, arson, and theft. When a hanging occurred it would happen publicly and brought to the community. Hanging often led to a slow and cruel death as the offender strangled on the rope. Public humiliation had many different forms. The way it occurred was the offender was placed in the middle of town with the surrounding of the town people, the offender's humiliation would be related to what type of crime they had committed. For example: when stealing crop or food the offender would stand in front of the town's people and get bombarded with tomatoes, and eggs[ CITATION Str09 l 1033 ]. Banishment occurred when treason had been committed. Another form of banishment would be when a female would have a child out of wedlock. Lashing happened when the crime would be resulted by adultery or fornication. Lashing would consist of stripping the flesh of one's back and at times the criminal would become seriously ill or die[ CITATION Woo09 l 1033 ]. .
In the early 1800s, the jail system was used only to hold people awaiting trial, and people awaiting execution. Imprisonment as a sentence was rarely unknown. Most jails were tiny cells, filthy, rat-infested hovels with straw on the floor to sleep upon. A bucket was provided for going to the bathroom. Food and drinks were provided by the offender's family. It wasn't just men in jail, women and children as well. Children were sent to jail for stealing bread and clothes. Prisoners were treated as animals and were considered less of a human because of their lawlessness.