Expert: Hank Hokamp - 8/11/2008

Question
Hi, I was wondering what women did, and their ranking in society, and what their punishment was? thanks

Answer

    Hello, Erica. Thanks for your question:


Puritan laws were often tied to the Bible in some way. Since long hair was considered inappropriate by Biblical interpretation, you would need to makefrequent trips to the barber to stay out of trouble. Swearing, sleeping during sermons, and skipping church were also punishable.

       The Puritans believed that punishment should be humiliating. The most common New England punishment were the stocks and pillory. Stocks were heavy wooden frames with holes that held the guilty persons ankles and sometimes wrists. The pillory was similar, but was designed so the person held in it would be in a standing position with his or her head and wrists secured. Usually the pillory was reserved for members of the community with high social standing, as opposed to the stocks, which were used for lower class individuals.  Usually, the stocks were accompanied by verbal abuse and rotten foods being thrown at you.

      Another form of public humiliation would be to have the criminal wear a large letter on their clothing. The letters would stand for the crime committed. A person with a T was a thief, with a D was charged with public drunkenness, and so on.

      Another form of punishment was the ducking stool. Reserved for women who gossiped or scolded their husbands, it was a teeter-totter like device, which had a stool attached to it where the woman would be tied. The woman would then be dunked in a lake or river, with the number of dunks depending on the judges ruling.

     Other, more brutal forms of punishment included whipping. Usually twenty to forty lashes were common, with one case of 117 lashes in the record book. The punishment did not stop with whipping. A hot awl was pierced through the tongue for a person who spoke against the religion. Sometimes ears were cut off. Occasionally, instead of just wearing a letter, the letter was brandedonto their forehead or other body parts.

     Execution was also a form of punishment in the colonies. Hanging was the most common form of execution, although burning at the stake was also used. One case in New York caused for the men to be "drawn and quartered," meaning they were dismembered and brutally mutilated as they were executed.

     How would you like to be a Puritan, Erica? Wouldn'd that be a hoot?

                                       HANK

                                            HANK