15. Puritans used corporal punishment to keep residents in line
Puritans in New England used the Bible as a guide for crimes and punishment. In doing so, they believed that they were fulfilling their obligations to God, who created and provided for them. Any non-normative behavior or any criminal act was cause for a trial and punishment. Crimes could include any deviant behavior, speaking against the authority of church figures, working on the Sabbath, not attending church, sodomy and bestiality, sex outside of marriage, swearing, drunkenness, idleness, gambling, flirting, and gossiping.
Trials and punishment were often public affairs. The most intimate details of a person’s life would be fodder for public debate. Neighbors, ministers, and government officials would scrutinize the accused asking person questions such as marital sex, aliments, or private thoughts. No question was off limit and privacy was nonexistent. Some crimes carried more weight than others. Someone who was convicted of committing heresy, expressing an unorthodox religious view, could be sentenced to death. Views that contradicted or challenged Puritan authority were dangerous and simply could not spread.
Other perceived crimes were controlled with fines and imprisonment. Both were detrimental to a farmer. If he was imprisoned, he would not be able to work his fields or tend to his livestock. If he was fined, it was likely that he would not have monetary means with which to pay the fine until his crop was sold at market. People were also sent to the stocks. The stockades were usual in the town’s square. As the criminal was serving their penance, neighbors were encouraged to yell and throw objects, including manurer and rotten fruits and vegetables.
Bodily harm was administered in one way or another in Puritan New England for what a 21st person would view as petty crimes. For Puritans in New England it was imperative to control their colony and to ensure that those who might speak out against their “holy commonwealth” were quickly punished and publicly humiliated. As Puritan leaders attempted to increase their strict control over residents in New England, the more England took notice. Within 75 years of settlement, Puritans were forced to relinquish control of their “City Upon A Hill.”