The Capitol took a large part in colonial times. This building served as a meeting place for the House of Burgesses, court, conferences, and voting. In this building, …show more content…
Court took result in the capitol. It gives us an example of court in Colonial Williamsburg. Court happened on the first floor of the west building and was active when there was a crime, like today. The punishment was rather different from today. Sometimes they would brand criminals, or tar and feather you, or if criminals did a felony, the court would hang them, but they would not jail you. They thought that jailing was cruel and unusual punishment. First, if criminals committed a misdemeanor the court would brand them. Branding is when the judge authorizes the blacksmith to heat a metal bar up and place it on the criminal’s hand. It burns through their skin and indents on the hand. It would stay there for a long time, to shame you. Another punishment is tar and feathering. This is a punishment where people take boiled tree sap, dump it on the criminal, and pour feathers on him or her. This shames the criminal and it takes longer to go away than the branding. Next, being hanged is the most severe punishment there is, it would kill the person right away. Authorities would only do this if the criminal had done a felony, or many, many crimes. Authorities would only jail the criminal if they were waiting for court or only sometimes for short periods of time. Ultimately, the Capitol has an importance for now it had been then and now it needs the