ABSTRACT
After reading this chapter students should understand and be able to discuss:
Why different crime patterns and criminal sanctions emerged in different regions of America
Why capital punishment varies by region in America today
Which English criminal justice traditions were transplanted to the New World and why others were not
The development of legal procedures in early America
The critical role played by the Puritans and Quakers in the shaping of American values
The underlying causes of the Salem witch trials and their uniqueness in early American criminal justice
The history of American criminal justice begins with the transplanting of European institutions to the New World. While several Spanish communities existed in parts of what is now the United States decades prior to the first permanent English settlements in Jamestown and Plymouth, they did not contribute much to the development of American criminal justice institutions. Initially, the history of colonial criminal justice is the story of thirteen separate colonies prior to the American Revolution and independence in 1776. The criminal codes, law enforcement systems, courts, and punishments resembled those of England, Holland, Spain, and France, depending on the colony. The development of American criminal justice is the story of the modification of this heritage. In order to understand the history of the 64American criminal justice system, it is necessary to appreciate the remarkable diversity of colonial America.