Acevedo, John F. 2013. Harsh Mercy: Criminal Law in Seventeenth-CenturyMassachusetts Bay. PhD dissertation, The University of Chicago. Ann Arbor: ProQuest/UMI. (Publication No. 1492330755).
Abstract:
As the first sustained study of
crime in Massachusetts Bay from the founding of the colony in 1630 until the
Salem Witchcraft trials this dissertation demonstrate the changes in colonial
criminal law admiration and dispel some of the misconceptions about criminal
law in the Massachusetts Bay colony. The colonists of Massachusetts Bay began
to alter the Common Law of England to their own ends as soon as they arrived in
North America. The colonial Puritan leaders sought to make a godly society on
earth, in order to achieve this they attempted to implement Biblical law in
their society. However, this proved not to be entirely possible because of the
harshness that would emerge from the proscribed punishments being inflicted and
the general lack of criminal procedure in the Bible. In creating their new
legal code they sought to establish certainty in punishment, but instead the Body of Liberties lead to an increase in
defendant’s rights and greater leniency in punishment, but not to certainty.
The replacement of this code combined with disturbances in the colony resulting
from the English Civil War and Restoration led to an increase in the harshness
of punishments under the Laws and
Liberties. Finally, the Revolution of 1688 was not an unproblematic event
in the colony, contributing to the rigid application of the Common Law during
the Salem witchcraft trials.
