Colonial Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Stay Out of Trouble in Colonial Times
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| From www.loc.gov |
Table of Contents:
The Beginning of What You Need to Know
The Government of Our Founding Fathers
The Loosest Definition of Law
The Ways You Can Be Punished
in Colonial Times
The Law and How to Break It
The Behavior Expected at Church
The End to What You Need to Know
The Beginning to What You Need to Know
Let it be Known that colonial law is boring. At least, that is the way it looks. Do you think that you will NEED to know what the founding fathers created? Do you even want to know? Well, let me just say that I would if I were you. The decision of reading this book is in your hands.
Still with me? Great! First, you must know that I should not be telling you this. The government will not like the fact that you will know more about colonial law than they do. The only reason that I am doing this at all is because it is for the greater good. The less people who could get hurt in the colonial times, the better. If people know more about government and law, crime and punishment, and all that is in between, the new world will be a better place. Except that time period is over now. Nonetheless, the show, or book in this case, must go on. Now I will let you in on a little secret. Colonial law is one of the most fascinating subjects of the time period, and you are about to learn why.
The Government of Our Founding Fathers
The government of colonial times has an interesting history. In the beginning, there were few plans for laws. There were little people who were prepared to lead, therefore, there were many disagreements. In that time, several countries were claiming land left and right. They most likely had very different ways of running populations, as well, so there were likely many fights over that aspect. A main reason for all the disorganization is that the British government, along with the British king, were not interested in how the colonies were run. They were more concerned about the money the colonies were making.
Eventually, the colonies established leaders, or governors, of a
From www.landofthebrave.info -the Declaration of Independence
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colony. They also had an assembly. The assembly created a law and sent it to the governor, who had to approve it before it could be sent to the king. The governor could also veto, or refuse, a law. He was in charge of most everything. However, the one thing the assembly did control was money. It is probable that they took great pride in this privilege. If a governor did not approve a law, the assembly could withdraw his pay until he did. Once a law was approved they would continue the governor’s rightful share of pay. The laws accepted by the governor went to the king to get final approval. Furthermore, this process could take a very long time to pass a law.
The Loosest Definition of Law
Law, if you could not tell already, in the colonial times was quite strange. The actual definition of colonial law is: the body of law in force in the thirteen original colonies before the Declaration of Independence. For those of you that do not know, the Declaration of Independence was written on July fourth, 1776. It was the start of America being free, and the end to the colonial time period, but that is getting off track. You are probably thinking Oh good, I do not have to sit through hearing about the declaration being the start to one of the best countries, and how it introduced the idea that good can come out of such a long struggle. Moving right along.
The Actual Laws
In the colonial times some laws were so absurd that there is no evidence of their purpose. These are some of them: Dominoes could not be played on Sunday, you could not impersonate a member of the clergy, you may not stab yourself to gain some one’s pity, and you may not have ice cream in your back pocket! The lists go on and on, and those were only a few examples. There were also very sensible laws that were made in colonial times, and were, luckily, the majority of laws. Some examples of those were: Do not steal, do not murder, do not whip your wife, and many, many more. Different colonies also had different laws depending on their lifestyles. For instance, it would make no sense to have a law about how men needed to keep roads clear of snow in the south during winter, while it would make perfect sense in the north.
The Laws for Children
Children also had rules they had to follow. They had a book of manners that they had to memorize. Some of their rules were: do not stuff your mouth with food, do not talk back, and show respect at all times. Children were punished by their parents if they did something wrong.
Boys under a certain age were punished not only by their parents, but also by their schoolmasters. Punishments that they endured in school were: wearing a dunce cap and leather glasses, wearing humiliating signs, or even wearing sticks in your nose or mouth! Plus, the school masters also whipped the boys. Coincidentally, the book, If You Lived in Colonial Times says, “Some punishments hurt your feelings and made you feel foolish. Some punishments just hurt!”
The Ways You Can be Punished in Colonial Times
How, might you ask, were people encouraged not to act against those laws? That, dear friends, is where a little thing called punishment comes in. If you broke a law in colonial times, you got punished, simple as that. You could say a bad word and sit in the stocks;
you would not get out of there until you sat every one of the seconds you were sentenced to or longer.
What are the stocks? Those were humiliating places made of wood where people had to sit with their feet locked in. There were also other humiliating punishments like the pillory, a place where you stand with your head and hands locked in, being whipped, or even public hangings. Also, there were other punishments like: branding, working as a servant, water dunking, where you sit on a stool and get dunked in the water. They thought other things were a waste of time! There were also others that were not as common. If you did even the smallest thing wrong, you would be judged and punished.
Why on Earth You Would Want to Break the Law?
Well why would you want to do something as crazy as breaking the law if you know there will be consequences? There is a question that is still asked today. The answers are relatively the same. Stealing? They needed or wanted something. Murdering? They were mad about something that had to do with the person. As for the small things, they might have even been having a bad day, or did their crime completely by accident. Of course there were always those few who had a rebellious streak and, for reasons unknown, disobeyed laws on purpose. In that perspective, reasons for breaking the law are close to the reasons today.
The Law and How to Break It
 Say there was a man who stole a pig. That man would have to pay more than 100 pounds of tobacco, and he would be whipped 25 times. Now say that same man was silly enough to steal another pig. He would have to pay the same amount of tobacco, and he would have to stand in the pillory with his ears nailed to it. When his time was up, his ears would be ripped from the nails and whatever part of his ear that was in the way would be removed. Now, say this is not a very bright man we are dealing with. In other words, yes, he stole a third pig. The poor guy would be hanged for his crimes.
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This is an example of committing a crime and being punished. In the colonial times, there was no hesitation to “have at it” with a criminal. There were special men who gave out punishments, which just goes to show that there were probably punishments given out frequently. Why else would there be men whose job was only to give out punishments and nothing else?
The Crimes of the Times
If punishments were given out as much as suspected, then there must have been many crimes that could have, and were committed. The colonies were very strict about what and what not to do. That is why even the smallest thing you did wrong could get you in trouble. If you stole even something as little of a deal as a handkerchief, you could face your death! Small, strange things like this that would be overlooked now, were such a huge deal back in the colonial days. The difference in what is considered a crime, and what the punishment is, today and back then is truly remarkable.
CRIME:
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Stole money
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Stole money
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PUNISHMENT:
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Stocks
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Jail
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CRIME:
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Stole silver spoon
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Stole silver spoon
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PUNISHMENT:
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Death!
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A fine
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The table above shows the difference between punishments for different crimes in Colonial America compared to today. The left column demonstrates the colonial times, while the right column shows life today.
Other things that were considered crimes back then were: murder theft, disturbing peace, drunkenness, and many, many more.
Making crimes like these into laws just goes to show that the colony leaders were quick to see anything that that could be considered ‘wrong.'
Making crimes like these into laws just goes to show that the colony leaders were quick to see anything that that could be considered ‘wrong.'
The Behavior Expected at Church
So now you know how colonial law was started, what colonial law is, what you could possibly do to break those laws, and the punishments you will have to face if you do, but what was colonists’ most important law?
Many say that it was that everyone had to go to church twice, for two hours each session, on Sundays. If someone broke this law once, they would lose a day’s food, twice, they were whipped, three times, they were to serve at least six months in the colony’s galley. Therefore, people definitely wanted to go to church because of this law and also out of sheer faith in their religion. Beside that fact, there were others who most definitely wanted to stay home.
The Rebels- Almost
“A couple of hours of theological hairsplitting was endured as a necessary mortification of the flesh. The solid citizen who lapsed into slumber had nothing worse to fear that having his ear tickled, first by a fur-tipped rod in the hands of the tithing man or the verger, and again by a pointed sarcasm from the pulpit.” is a quote from the book Colonial Living. This quote, in other words, basically means that if someone sitting in church and falls asleep, there are men walking around with rods that will tickle your ear with fur, and then they will hit your ear with the other end, the hard one.
This is one reason why people did not want to, and were actually scared to, go to church. The other main reason was that church back then, and sometimes still today, was the source of mental stimulus, or learning, drama, gossip, and news. While most find this good, some people do not like the public, and others are nervous about hearing something bad about them. Still others feel like they will not even have as good of social news as others! Like other discussed subjects, reasons in the colonial times for doing or not doing something are quite odd.
As for those who did follow this particular law, and there were quite a lot of them at that, once inside the building, they got two hours of what was pretty much complete boredom. Besides religious activities, there was the reading of all the laws, and that means ALL the laws, known, the priests also told the news, good and bad, of what was going on locally and in far away colonies.
The End to What You Need to Know
A final word before we part ways. It must be that colonial law can impact our world today so much, but in ways that we do not understand. Think about it. We have a lot of the same formality in our government, though not as much disorganization thank goodness, even the strictness of parents dates back to the colonial times. One more thing. As I told you before, this information shared with you is confidential, therefore, you are not to share it with anyone. The fact that you know all about the history of American government is private. That you can say a few words on colonial law and punishment is secret. That you have knowledge on the details of the crimes back in the day are not to be discussed. If anybody asks; colonial law is boring.
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