Can I read Liberty's Prisoners: Carceral Culture in Early America (Early American Studies) on EtoBox?

Liberty's Prisoners: Carceral Culture in Early America (Early American Studies) by Jennifer Manion is a history book available to read on EtoBox.

What is Liberty's Prisoners: Carceral Culture in Early America (Early American Studies) about?

<p><i>Liberty's Prisoners</i> examines how changing attitudes about work, freedom, property, and family shaped the creation of the penitentiary system in the United States. The first penitentiary was founded in Philadelphia in 1790, a period of great optimism and turmoil in the Revolution's wake. Those who were previously dependents with no legal standing&mdash;women, enslaved people, and indentured servants&mdash;increasingly claimed their own right to life, liberty, and happiness. A diverse cast of women and men, including immigrants, African Americans, and the Irish and Anglo-American poor, struggled to make a living. Vagrancy laws were used to crack down on those who visibly challenged longstanding social hierarchies while criminal convictions carried severe sentences for even the most trivial property crimes.<br><br>The penitentiary was designed to reestablish order, both behind its walls and in society at large, but the promise of reformative incarceration failed from its earliest years. Within this system, women served a vital function, and Liberty's Prisoners is the first book to bring to life the e xperience of African American, immigrant, and poor white women imprisoned i

Who reads Liberty's Prisoners: Carceral Culture in Early America (Early American Studies)?

Author

Jennifer Manion

Publisher

University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.

Published

2015

Language

EN

ISBN

9780812247572

Category

history

Subjects

Science, Social Science, Fiction

Rating

3 / 5 (1 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-13