EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY · PAPER 1 · CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Crime and Punishment in the Industrial Period
c1700-c1900 · Chapter 3: Crime and punishment in Britain, c1700-c1900, c1700-c1900 · Lesson 1 of 4
What Do You Already Think?
Answer before the lesson, then check your ideas at the end.
1. Why might crime rise when people move to towns?
Towns were crowded and anonymous - it was easier to steal and harder to be recognised.
2. Would making more crimes punishable by death stop crime?
Not necessarily - juries often refused to convict, and many people were pardoned.
3. What could be done with criminals instead of hanging them?
Transport them abroad, or send them to prison.
Learning Objectives
1. Explain how industrialisation and the growth of towns changed crime.
2. Describe the Bloody Code and explain why it was introduced.
3. Explain why the Bloody Code ended, and describe the use of transportation.
Setting the Scene
Between 1700 and 1900 Britain became the world's first industrial nation. Millions of people moved from villages to fast-growing towns to work in factories and mills. Towns were crowded, poor and anonymous, and the rich had more property than ever to protect. Parliament, made up of landowners, passed harsh laws to protect that property.
1723 - The Black Act makes over 50 offences, including poaching in disguise, punishable by death. | 1776 - Transportation to America ends when the colonies rebel. | 1787 - The First Fleet sets sail to transport convicts to Australia. | 1820s - Robert Peel, as Home Secretary, begins removing crimes from the Bloody Code. | 1861 - Only four crimes remain punishable by death. | 1868 - Public executions end; the last convict ship sails to Australia.
Why Crime Changed in Industrial Britain
The industrial revolution created new opportunities for crime.
|
Growing towns Towns such as Manchester grew very fast, packing people into crowded slums. |
Anonymity In a town nobody knew you, so it was easier to steal and escape. |
|
Poverty Low wages, unemployment and high food prices pushed people to steal to survive. |
More to steal Shops, warehouses and factories held more goods than ever before. |
|
Drink Cheap gin and beer were blamed for violence and disorder. |
Fear Newspapers reported crime widely, making people feel it was rising fast. |
The Bloody Code
The name historians give to the huge number of crimes punishable by death.
▸ The numbers. The number of capital crimes rose from around 50 at the start of the 1700s to over 200 by 1815.
▸ Minor crimes. Many were property crimes, such as stealing goods worth more than five shillings, or cutting down trees in an avenue.
▸ Why. Parliament was made up of wealthy landowners who wanted to protect their property, and they believed the threat of hanging would deter crime.
▸ Deterrence. Executions were public, so that the crowd would see what happened to criminals.
Did the Bloody Code Work?
In practice, far fewer people were hanged than the law allowed.
▸ Juries. Juries often refused to convict for minor thefts, or valued stolen goods below the amount that carried the death penalty.
▸ Pardons. Many convicted criminals were pardoned, and their sentences were changed to transportation.
▸ Crowds. Public executions became rowdy events, and some people sympathised with the condemned.
▸ Crime continued. Crime did not fall, which suggested the harsh laws were not deterring anyone.
Transportation
A way of removing criminals without executing them.
|
Destination |
When |
What happened |
|---|---|---|
|
American colonies |
Until 1776 |
Convicts worked on plantations; ended when the colonies won independence |
|
Australia |
1787-1868 |
Around 160,000 convicts were sent on a journey that took eight months |
|
Work |
On arrival |
Convicts worked for settlers or on public projects; good behaviour could earn a ticket of leave |
|
The end |
1868 |
Transportation ended as it was seen as too expensive and not a deterrent |
Why the Bloody Code Ended
By the 1860s the death penalty was used almost only for murder.
▸ Peel's reforms. In the 1820s Home Secretary Robert Peel removed the death penalty from over 100 crimes.
▸ New ideas. Reformers argued that punishments should fit the crime and try to reform criminals.
▸ Alternatives. Transportation and new prisons offered other ways to punish.
▸ 1861. Only four crimes remained capital: murder, treason, piracy with violence and arson in royal dockyards. Public executions ended in 1868.
Key Terms
|
Industrialisation The growth of factories and industry, and the move of people into towns. |
Bloody Code The name for the large number of crimes punishable by death in the 1700s and early 1800s. |
|
Capital crime A crime punishable by death. |
Transportation Sending convicts to work in a colony, such as Australia. |
|
Pardon Being let off a sentence, often changed to a lesser punishment. |
Deterrence Punishing people to put others off committing crime. |
Summary
✓ Industrialisation and growing towns created new opportunities for crime.
✓ The Bloody Code made over 200 crimes punishable by death by 1815.
✓ Juries and pardons meant far fewer people were hanged than the law allowed.
✓ Peel's reforms ended the Bloody Code; public executions ended in 1868.
|
EXAM FOCUS Explain why the Bloody Code came to an end in the nineteenth century. (12 marks) Explain several reasons - it did not work, new ideas, alternatives such as prison - and support each with a specific example. |