CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

and

CLASS DIFFERENCES

In the 13 colonies!

By: Troy, Zach B., MJ, and Hailey

Many crimes were based on the understanding of God’s law in the bible.

Some crimes included denying the true God or striking or cursing your parents.

Being drunk was a small crime. Breaking the Sabbath by working or traveling on

Sunday was also small crime. Theft, forgery, and highway robbery were very

harsh crimes in every colony. Satan was thought to work through witches so

therefore witchcraft was an extreme crime.

Crime

Punishment in the 13 colonies could range from public humiliation to death.

Committing small crimes such as breaking the Sabbath resulted in being put in stockades to be humiliated publicly.

The bigger crimes such as “denying the true God or for striking/cursing your parents could result in death.

Being accused of witchcraft was a terrible crime and resulted in the immediate death penalty.

For crimes such as theft, highway robbery, and forgery people could be jailed, whipped, or branded with hot irons.

Punishment

Pictures of Crime and Punishment

Branding irons

Stockade Salem Witchcraft Trials

1: Name 3 of the possible crimes committed in the 13 colonies.

2: Name 3 of the possible punishments for crimes committed in the 13 colonies.

3: What were the Salem Witchcraft trials about?

4: What is a stockade?5: What would happen if you broke the

Sabbath?

Quiz Questions

1: Denying the true God, striking/cursing your parents, theft, forgery, highway robbery, witchcraft, being drunk, and breaking the Sabbath.

2: Public humiliation, being branded by hot irons, being jailed, being whipped, and death.

3: The Salem Witchcraft were about women who were accused of witchcraft and were put to death.

4: A stockade is a wooden brace that gets locked and holds your head and arms for public humiliation.

5: If you broke the Sabbath you would be put in a stockade, and publicly humiliated.

Quiz Answers

Classes

Upper class, middle class, and lower class

England’s social classes and America’s social classes were very different in the colonial times.

In England, your social class depended on your family, inherited titles ( duke or baron ), and wealth.

In America, your social class depended only on your wealth.

Upper Class The upper class people were made up of the

wealthy and gentry. They wore gold or silver, colored lace,

buttons, boots, and wigs. Some classes were forbade to wear such

excess apparel and even fined those who disobeyed.

Middle Class Farmers and artisans made up most of the

middle class. These people owned their own land or

business. The people with enough property could

vote. The middle class wore plain but brightly

colored clothes during the week and on Sundays they wore dark, somber clothes.

Lower Class The lower class was made up of mostly farm

hands and other workers. They depended on others wages. They were not allowed to vote because of

little or no property owned. People who saved their money and bought

land or started a business could rise to the middle class.

Servants and Slaves Servants and slaves were the lowest class in

the colonial society. A third of New England’s settlers were made

up of servants and most settled in the middle colonies.

Some saved money to eventually buy land or their own business to rise to the middle class.

But even the poorest white laborers was better off than most African Americans

Quiz

1. What was the upper class made up of?2. What did people in the upper class wear?3. What was the middle class made up of?4. What did the middle class qualify for?5. What was the lower class made up of?6. What were the servants and slaves placed

as?

Quiz Answers

1. Wealthy and gentry.2. Gold, silver, colored lace buttons, boots ,

and wigs3. Farmers and artisans.4. Qualified for voting.5. Farm hands and other workers.6. The lowest of society.

Upper Class Middle Class

Slaves and ServantsLower Class