Running away and returning home: the fate of English convicts in the American colonies
The myth of return – that many English criminals transported to the American colonies ran away and returned home – dominated eighteenth-century views of the punishment. In both criminal biographies and political discussion this was widely believed. Yet data from both sides of the Atlantic suggest th...
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| Publicat a: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/chs, |
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| Autors principals: | , |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Idioma: | Anglais |
| Publicat: |
Crime, Histoire & Sociétés
2009
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| Accés en línia: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Sumari: | The myth of return – that many English criminals transported to the American colonies ran away and returned home – dominated eighteenth-century views of the punishment. In both criminal biographies and political discussion this was widely believed. Yet data from both sides of the Atlantic suggest that few in fact returned successfully. The systems of surveillance in the colonies, designed to detect and recapture escaping slaves, servants and convicts, were effective. Also, the difficulties they faced in trying to return were for many convicts, particularly women, insuperable. This article analyses the fates of convicts from the north and west of England, their patterns of running away, and the characters of those few who managed to return. |
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