Bound for America: The Transportation of British Convicts to the Colonies, 1718-1775

Front Cover
Clarendon Press, 1987 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 277 pages
From 1718 to 1775, British courts banished 50,000 convicts to America--the largest body of immigrants, aside from African slaves, ever sent across the Atlantic--in hopes of restoring social peace at home without posing the threat to traditional freedoms raised by the death penalty or a harsh corrective system. Drawing upon archives in Britain and the United States, Bound for America examines the critical role this punishment played in Britain's criminal justice system. It also assesses the nature of the convict trade, the social origins of the transported felons, and the impact such a large criminal influx had on colonial society.

From inside the book

Contents

Introduction
1
Prologue
7
Native Sons
46
Copyright

6 other sections not shown

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Bibliographic information