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U.S. History/Puritan law and punishment if laws were broken

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Expert: Hank Hokamp - 5/17/2009


Question
Dear Hank,
I'm having trouble trying to find info about the puritan laws and punishments.My question is what are the laws of the puritans,and if some one diobeyed them,what would happen?Also,what punishment would a woman,man,and child get?Well,thanks for your time,and please answer quickly,my repot is due soon!!

Sincerily,
Seana

Answer

Stocks Used By The Pur

   Hello, Seana. Thanks for the questions:

   They might be hung, burnt for wichcraft, killed, put in the stockades, or pinned while people threw rotten fruit. For lying they might burn a hole in your tongue. For stealing they might chop off your fingers.

  Here are some beliefs:

  1. Benefit of clergy - the convicted may plead benefit of clergy, in which case, if they can read a passage from the Bible without one mistake, their sentence will be reduced.

2. Stocks - the convicted will have his head and hands placed in a locked stockade for the remainder of the day, and the community will be invited to pelt him with food. The convicted must clean up anything he is pelted with.

3. Wearing a sign - a milder punishment than branding. The convicted must make their own sign to hang around their neck, which indicates their crime.

4. Branding - the convicted is marked with letters that stand for their crime - HT for hog thief, A for adulterer. The branding can be on the cheek, forehead, or more mildly on the hand or finger.

5. Ducking stool - for women only, usually used in the case of gossip. The woman shall be confined in a chair and dunked in water.

6. Whipping - for men only, a common punishment. A number of "lashes" is administered to the convicted's back. Lashes usually number from 5 to 20.

7. Public shaming - a milder form of punishment, the convicted is pulled on a rope through the town, while the community is invited to point fingers at him, tell him he is naughty, and pelt him with small objects.

    A religious fanatic is someone who takes his or her religion to the extreme, letting it control everything in his or her day to day life. The Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay colony are a prime example of this extremist view of religion. They had com plete religion based lives including the laws that they wrote, the way they treated outspoken women, and the way they treated people of other religions. The Puritans, for the most part, were good people, they just went way too far when it came to their r eligious beliefs.

   In the late 16 hundreds, the Puritans wrote their laws according to what the Bible states in the Old Testament, and to what they thought should also be a sin against God. These laws made some very petty and insignificant things illegal; such as worshipp ing a God other than the Lord God, cursing the name of God, a child over 16 cursing his parents, and being stubborn or rebellious against one's own parents. The punishment for all of the afore mentioned laws and for many others was death. Even interpr eting a preacher's sermon in a different way was enough to get in trouble with the law.

    And for one woman it did. The mix of being a woman and committing an act against the church was even worse. Anne Hutchinson was a woman in the Puritan society with her own religious views. Ones that she shared with a select group of people in the community when she held small meetings at her home to reevaluate and reinterpret what the preacher had said in his sermon. For this she got arrested, put on trial in a severe cross-examination, and was finally banished from the community. In this day and age, sharing of religious views, even from a woman, wouldn't even be thought of as bad, much less a serious crime. But to the Puritans, having different views of God's word was enough to have a person put to death. Even if they were from a different community all-together.

                                 HANK  

Hank Hokamp

Expertise

U. S. (American) History has been a hobby of mine for many a moon. When you understand history, you understand basic concepts and ideas. You will learn about cause and effect, relationships and human nature. I seem to have this "savior complex" due to which I seem to be automatically attracted to people who need my help on a daily basis. Since we are the only critters on the planet, how about joining me? Pleasure and satisfaction are your rewards. Remember to spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Experience

19 years which includes research!

Organizations
Phi Delta Theta Fraternity; Paralegal Assns.; Noon Optimists; DeMolay

Publications
Champaign (IL) News-Gazette newspaper (Feature writer and City reporter); Galveston News-Tribune; Orlando Sentinel-Star et al.

Education/Credentials
Two universities, one college and an institute. My major was Journalism with minors in American History and Sociology.

Awards and Honors
46 athletic awards, mostly in basketball, baseball and golf.

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