The justice system during the early 19th century varied from state to state, but there were some similarities around the United States. For the most part, states that were next to each other had similar values concerning justice compared to states far away. For instance in the South, the judge had all the power in sentencing. While in the North, the sentencing lied in the minds of the jury. Also, depending on whether you lived in a rural or city environment would be a factor that went into the establishing of your sentencing. Since not many cities had large established jails, a common punishment involved the issuing of a fine. Jail occupancy consisted mainly for large crimes, such as murder or rape especially in rural areas. Along with the regular courts, there were also slave courts.
Throughout the years before the antebellum period, the justice system had very little options on determining sentencing for a crime. Unless you committed a capital crime, which would most likely result in the death penalty, the punishment would be basically a slap on the wrist. Then came the development of the penitentiary system, which allowed a space for people to be locked up and become reformed. Now with an established place to confine felons, the streets can be cleansed of the filth of the town. One of the earliest and most famous penitentiaries in the South, the Milledgeville Penitentiary, was established in 1816. The Milledgeville Penitentiary housed many of the worst felons from around the state of Georgia. By instituting the penitentiary, the justice systems hoped to reform convicted felons. By reforming the prisoners, the prisoners would be released back into the community as good upstanding individuals. Many cities followed the lead of Milledgeville and instituted prisons to house criminals. Most of the papers documented about life in prison seemed to portray a happy and well-ordered place. The reason for this is because most of the documents kept were by the man running the p! rison and he did not want people to think that things were getting out of hand. For example, a letter might say something about inmate Bob getting sick, but everything else is going smooth.
The punishment for people varied depending on sex and race. Slaves were usually sentenced to a longer term in jail or a harsher punishment than a white person was because the white man owned land and his fellow mates were defending him. If the crime committed by the slave were a minor offense then the slave owner would handle it himself. People believed that if you leave the problem to the owner it was best because the slave is the property of the owner as well as saving time from going to trial. When the slave did something that was not a capital crime or a minor offence that could not be handled by the owner then he would usually be given a certain amount of lashes depending on the severity of the crime. Records from a report about Savannah slave crime showed that convictions between whites and blacks were nearly equal.i 1 The reason they believe this was rested in the fact that the owners did not want the! ir property, the slave, to be destroyed or maimed. If the slave received to many lashings than he would be of no help to the owner. The more wealthy the slave owner the better legal representation the slave would benefit from. In addition, a benefit for a slave would be the location of the crime. If the crime was committed in a younger state such as Texas or Florida, the slave had a better chance due to the lack of rooted convictions of people that slaves were no good.ii 2 On the other hand, in South Carolina slaves were convicted at a much higher rate. For example, there was a crime called the threatening of white superiority in which over 90 percent of the cases that reached verdict came up guilty.iii 3 Nevertheless, like most other states South Carolina did enforce the thrashing method for punishment. In regards to women compared to men, slave wome! n received a lighter sentence for the most part. There were a great deal fewer cases involving women than men. In almost the same category as women, free blacks received lighter sentences than slaves did. Free blacks would receive thirty lashings compared to fifty that a slave male would most likely receive.
A problem involving slave justice during the antebellum period consisted of slaves not being able to testify against white people.iv 4 If a white person beat a slave, he would get a way with the crime unless another white person saw him due it. The only way a slave could testify would be if it were against another slave, but that rarely happened because not many trials consisted of slave on slave disputes. For the most part if there were slave on slave disputes it was left on the plantation. If the slave was convicted of the crime he was on trial for he could appeal it if his master put up the money and fought for a lesser sentence or the absence of a sentence at all.
One study has shown that the procedure in deciding a sentence for a felon differed greatly in the North than the South. The North, represented by Indiana, left the power of sentencing to the jury. They felt that the decision should be left up to the people. In some places up North they gave the jury to read into the laws and assert what the believed the law was stating. One of the few reasons a judge would be profoundly involved in a case would be if the defendant pleads guilty, at that point it is up to the judge to determine sentencing. In the South, represented by Georgia, the power of sentencing lied in the hands of the judge. The judge made all the decisions on all cases. In cases run by a judge most of the time the defendant knew if he was convicted the type of sentence that was going to be given; while if the jury headed the case the defendant had no idea of what type of punishment was going to be given. Since people were not suppose to be on a jury all th! e time, the change of people brought changes in ideas resulting in different types of outcomes for a defendant. Another difference between the North and the South was the duration of sentences given. On average, there was a larger range of jail time in the North than in the South. For example, for the crime of voluntary manslaughter brought a sentence ranging from 2-21 years in Indiana; on the other hand in Georgia the same crime brought a sentence ranging from 2-4 years. Another sentencing difference between the two states was how Georgia's longest jail time was around 7 years, but in Indiana the long was around 21 years. Georgians believed that after a certain amount of time in jail the person would have become rehabilitated and ready to join the world again. However in Indiana, people were more cautious about releasing a person from prison. In the end, both states had close numbers on the average a person stayed in jail for a particular crime. The difference betwe! en the two states rested in the area of violent crimes. In violent crime cases, Indiana felons averaged around 8.2 years in prison compared to 3.6 years for Georgia. One reason for the lack of time for Georgians is due to the fact that it seemed to happen more often.v 5
In another comparison between a northern and southern state shows that the north seemed to handle more property crimes due to the rise of industry, while in the south there were more crimes that are violent. In one table, it compares the percentages of crimes between the two states and Massachusetts had 30.8 percent of the crime dealing with property while South Carolina had 13.1 percent. Then also to note, South Carolina had 58.3 percent of its crime dealing with people while Massachusetts only had 17.8 percent.vi 6 The problem with these numbers though has to do with the fact that many records were not kept and the fact that slave crime was documented in the South. There is no equal comparison in Massachusetts to slave crime in South Carolina. Another factor that seemed to agree with the rest of the nation, that both of these states conformed to, involved the lack of trials involving women and the lesser p! unishments those women received if convicted. The only reoccurring crime that women were subject to in Massachusetts was being involved with a brothel, but even then, most of the time they still were not tried for the crime. Though women in the South are considered belles and very dainty there is still no reason for a lighter sentence. The reasoning behind the lighter punishment for women rests in the fact that it was less common than male crime.
Throughout the antebellum period even with the establishment of penitentiaries and the evolving judicial system, most cases never reached a verdict. Around half of all cases tried never reached verdict. For example in Hillsborough County Florida, forty-one of the eighty crimes against person cases between the years of 1846-1861 never reached verdict.vii 7 These cases include murder in which five of the ten cases never reached verdict. Another astounding statistic involves the crimes against morality and public order, in which ninety-three of the one hundred thirty-nine cases never reached verdict. These types of cases include adultery, gambling, bigamy, and perjury amongst many more. The reason for the high rate of no verdict sometimes was due to plea-bargaining, which started to rise during the antebellum period. Another reason may have been the result of faulty evidence and testimony. Another fact to sh! ow the lack of decisions made in the court during the antebellum period were the cases tried in Massachusetts in which only 14 percent of all cases were settled in the Superior Court.viii 8 There seemed to be a great deal of simple decisions made by lesser officials to determine the fate of a person. Too much power was given to the community rather than the government. In addition, stated in the Hillsborough County article was the mentioning of the community getting involved with the law enforcement to apprehend a lawbreaker.ix 9 People would take time to seek out ones that have wronged them as well as other people who have broken the law. People wanted to see justice for the wrongs that were being committed by fellow citizens.
The Antebellum period seemed to be a defining time for the judicial system of America. Many laws were administered that are now looked down upon, as well as others that have been kept and embraced. One of the laws that still holds value today consists of jury selection. During this time was also the establishment of the penitentiary system, which gave more options for a jury or judge in regards to sentencing. Penitentiaries helped immensely with riding the streets of nasty criminals. The differences of the time for judicial systems mainly were between the North and the South. The North seemed to be stricter than the South from the statistics gathered, but the South dealt with more crime that was violent. The South also had a more predominant slave problem than the North. Though the North and South had different crimes to deal with both handled them effectively. The only problem both areas faced was the lack of convictions, there were too many non-verdicts.
1. 1. 1 Byrne, William A. "Slave Crime in Savannah, Georgia" Journal of Negro History Vol. 79(4): 352-362 1994
2. 2. Flanigan, Daniel J. "Criminal Procedure in Slave Trials in the Antebellum South" The Journal of Southern History Vol. 40(4): 537-564 1974
3. 3. Hindus, Michael S. "Black Justice Under White Law: Criminal Prosecutions of Blacks in Antebellum South Carolina" Journal of American History Vol. 63(3): 575-599 1976
4. 4. Hindus, Michael S. "Black Justice Under White Law: Criminal Prosecutions of Blacks in Antebellum South Carolina" Journal of American History Vol. 63(3): 575-599 1976
5. 5. Bodenhamer, David J. "Criminal Sentencing in Antebellum America: A North-South Comparison" Historical Social Research Vol. 15(4): 77-94 1990
6. 6. Hindus, Michael S. Prison and Plantation Chapel Hill 1980
7. 7. Denham, James M. "Bringing Justice to the Frontier: Crime and Punishment in Antebellum Hillsborough County" Tampa Bay History Vol. 19(2): 77-91 1997
8. 8. Hindus, Michael S. Prison and Plantation Chapel Hill 1980
9. 9. Denham, James M. "Bringing Justice to the Frontier: Crime and Punishment in Antebellum Hillsborough County" Tampa Bay History Vol. 19(2): 77-91 1997