Large scale use of transportation as a criminal punishment began about 1663. It was imposed both on defendants convicted of capital non-clergyable felonies and pardoned on condition of transportation and on some defendants convicted of clergyable felonies. A judge who wished to transport such a felon could choose to test the literacy requirement strictly and find that the defendant was not literate and thus not entitled to benefit of clergy or, if the defendant was already branded for a previous offense, the judge could enforce the rule forbidding non-clerics to plead clergy more than once.

Transportation was by private merchants. A merchant who wished to transport a felon was required to pay the sheriff "a price per head that included jail fees, the fees of the clerk of the appropriate court, fees for drawing up the pardon, and so on" (Beattie p. 479). After transporting the felon to the New World, the merchant could sell him into indentured servitude for a term depending on his offense. This was a profitable transaction if the felon was young and healthy or had useful skills. But many felons did not bring enough return to pay the merchant's cost. The result was that felons who had been sentenced to transportation but whom nobody was willing to transport accumulated in jails intended as temporary holding places.

Another problem was with the colonies to which the felons were sent; in the 1670's both Virginia and Maryland passed laws prohibiting transportation. Beattie concludes that "transportation to the mainland colonies was being seriously curtailed by the 1670's."[17] While some transportation continued, it seems to have become an uncommon punishment by the end of the seventeenth century.

The second period of transportation began in 1718. This time the government made no attempt to charge merchants for the privilege of transporting convicted felons. Instead, the merchants were offered a subsidy of 3[[sterling]] per transportee. On those terms transportation was profitable. The system was continued until the American Revolution removed most of the places to which transportees were being sent from the authority of the crown.

TOPIC: Crime and Punishment, Quiz #1

ASSIGNMENT: Visit the rooms connected to Newgate and research information available through the links. Select either a criminal biography or a trial transcript to discuss. Be prepared to analyze the crime committed, the punishment meted out, and why the punishment would be considered to fit the crime.

DISCUSSION QUESTION:
1. After Moll and her Lancashire husband leave Newgate they become prosperous planters and appear to the world to have "made it." Is this as it should be? Are they now behaving responsibly and therefore receiving rewards appropriate to such responsible behavior? Has the society that first ostracized and punished them behaved responsibly?