The Conditions Within Prisons In The 1800's

The prison’s in the 1800’s were still in need of reformation. Corporal punishment existed within prisons, Auburn and Eastern State Penitentiary were model prions, yet offenders were flogged, beaten and subjected to severe corporal punishments for rule violations. Most importantly the quiet reflection of solitude actually drove inmates insane. Public hangings became private in 1835 within five states and subsequently, in 1849, fifteen more states followed. (Blomberg & Lucken, 2010). During the mid-1800s, many prison reformers advocated for the use of rigid, harsh penal conditions. Overall prison conditions were terrible, with the worse conditions being in the south. As citizens became activist after learning the actual conditions inside
As prisons became workhouses for the offenders, prison structure also became more secure with brick walls and towers (Stojkovic & Lovell, 2013). Prison factories smelted steel, formed tires, milled cabinets as well other numerous. In the South, slave labor was replaced by inmate labor in the fields. This trend of prisons as factories and profiteers of low-cost labor ended mostly due to the depression and hard economic times (Stojkovic & Lovell, 2013). States interests, workers, unions and all those who could not compete against industrial prions by low-cost prison production advocated reform. Federal Laws were passed which constrained products made by inmates. In 1929, the Hawes—Cooper Act ensured prison goods were subject to the receiving state laws. As the American public suffered in the 1930’s and 1940’s with the Great Depression (1929-1941), significant droughts, and events such as the Dust Bowl so did the attitude toward American Prisons (Stojkovic & Lovell, 2013). Shortly following the Hawes—Cooper Act was the passage of the Ashurst-Summers Act in 1935 which banned inmate goods from going over state lines. Many businesses, workers, and unions perceived inmate goods as a discouragement to free trade among traditional workers and industry (Stojkovic & Lovell, 2013). Prions that were once built for penance now relied on the concepts of incapacitation and reformation through labor, soon became closed for business. Inmates became idle, prisons became crowded resulting in rioting and prions takeovers. Between 1926 and 1933 there were over three dozen riots in American prisons (Stojkovic & Lovell, 2013). American prisons began to grow more prone to punishment than reformation and with inmate rioting brought an onslaught of getting tough