Grave Robbing During The 19th Century

During the 19th century, the taking of bodies also known as grave robbing was a popular act because they were the only sources of material for dissection and study. Grave Robbing was normally only performed by men for the scientific and financial benefits only. Some bodies may have been opened to try and predict the future. The supply was limited by law, this is why some of the early grave robbers were found to be the surgeons themselves and their students. Grave Robbing was a profession for some, although, they claim that taking a body was not a crime nor an offense because it was not property and it did not belong to someone anymore.
According to the article (Yale University) states that “In Lambeth in 1795, there was a professional gang
The boy went on to tell his father and after that, it turned into a big riot. The fact that his mother had recently passed away and her coffin was found to be empty, the boy's father got a group of men from around the city together. The men proceeded to go into the hospital to find half-dissected bodies which they showed to the public to demonstrate the cruelty in the surgeon. The rioting led to intimidated medical students and the searching of many surgeons houses for the days to come. Not everyone was on the rioters side of the deal, many of the anatomists were held in the jail to protect them and the military men tried to defend the surgeons. The military commander tried to control the rioters, but with the weapons they brought to the plate, the commander ordered his troops to step back and take fire. This resulted in 3 deaths of the rioters and over half a dozen wounded. This riot of 1788 was known to be one of New York’s most serious outbreaks. The anatomy act was created to help the rioting while it brought about a new punishment into New York’s criminal code. Although the creators of the act did not realize that some people might interpret the act in the wrong way. Some believed that the executions that the judge decides for murder, arson, or burglary was another way of getting corpse for dissection. They came to the conclusion that the dissection of felons could be used as a punishment for their crime, The United States gave the federal judges the right to dissection when on the death penalty for a murder. The dissection of bodies turned into different types of punishments depending on the capital sentence. When on the death sentence the body was used for