Shifting Economies In Colonial America

Shifting Economies The criminal justice system in America exists on a continuum in which theories, practices, and built form don’t necessarily come to an end, but rather still exist in modified versions. If we treat the criminal justice cycle as a continuum, then we must also treat its major informing component—the economy—as a continuum. America’s shifting economies provide not a clear-cut, start-stop timeline, but rather a contiguous sequence punctuated by the introductions of new economies whereby society evolves and adapts. 17th century colonial America was a nascent nation marked by a “contempt for the body.” Death was familiar, albeit normal, in a society plagued by disease, famine, and low life expectancies. There was no sense of value placed upon the individual or
Public torture and executions allowed the citizenry which had been wronged a chance to obtain vengeance. As land was obtained, the need for cultivation and labor rose exponentially in America. The slave economy of the late 17th and early 18th century positioned itself in a most convenient way for a society still concerned with corporal punishment but wanting to remove itself from the public spectacle of torture and execution. Forced labor stripped the criminal of his liberties and rights as a man as well as his rights to his own body. The mercantile economy of the 18th century saw the height of the trade industry. Profits from exported goods were the ultimate goal, which meant production needed to intensify. Forced labor continued to increase production, but the criminal