Tales of the country’s original criminals—and how the courts punished them for their misdeeds Scarlet Letters; wanton dalliances; Sabbathbreaking; and debt: Colonial laws were easily broken and the malefactors who broke them; swiftly punished. How did our ancestors deal with murder and mayhem? How did seventeenth- and eighteenth-century New England communities handle deviants? How have definitions of criminal behavior and its punishment changed over the centuries? What were early prisons like? What were the duties of a turn-key? Find out all this and more in The Devil Made Me Do It. Drawing on early court dockets; diaries; sermons; gaolers’ records; and other primary sources; Juliet Haines Mofford investigates historical cases from a time when accused felons often pleaded in their own defense: “The Devil made me do it!†Among the questions that emerge in this fascinating book: Would spinster Sarah Booker be punished today for her 1769 theft of three skeins of linen yarn? Would Joan Andrews still get a T for Theft pinned upon her bodice for cheating a client by placing two stones in the firkin of butter she sold him?
#3878968 in Books University Press of America 2012-08-16 2012-08-16Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.82 x .92 x 6.05l; 1.05 #File Name: 0761859632308 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Excellent book on someone who should be better knownBy genwsThis scholarship and good read represents the continuing effort to create a balanced and meaningful public history; not as much for the sake of political correctness but to teach us a reality from which we can learn.0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Amazing book!By Carolyn a teedI read this book from start to finish without putting it down! Paul Teed is an amazing author and gave so much information. His writing is clear and understandable. I recommend this book to everyone who loves history!
