Lockstep in the Auburn Prison

The Auburn system (also known as the New York System) is a penal method of the 19th century in which persons worked during the day in groups and were kept in solitary confinement at night, with enforced silence at all times. The silent system evolved during the 1820s at Auburn Prison in Auburn, N.Y., as an alternative to and modification of the Pennsylvania system of solitary confinement, which it gradually replaced in the United States. Whigs favored this system because it promised to rehabilitate criminals by teaching them personal discipline and respect for work, property, and other people. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Auburn Prison is a prison located in Auburn, New York, USA. Constructed in 1816, it was the first state prison in New York, the site of the first execution via electric chair, and the namesake of the Auburn System, a correctional system believed to rehabilitate prisoners William Kemmler, who murdered... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Solitary confinement, colloquially referred to as the hole (or in British English the block), is a punishment in which a prisoner is denied contact with any other persons, excluding guards, chaplains and doctors. ... Auburn Prison is a prison located in Auburn, New York, USA. Constructed in 1816, it was the first state prison in New York, the site of the first execution via electric chair, and the namesake of the Auburn System, a correctional system believed to rehabilitate prisoners William Kemmler, who murdered... The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. ...

Among notable elements of the Auburn system were striped uniforms, lockstep and silence. Lockstep in the Auburn Prison, c. ...

The Auburn system (also known as the New York System) is a penal method of the 19th century. This new system was created by John D. Cray. Cray formed the system from the Pennsylvania prison system, which relied on solitary confinement. The prisoners were also forced to follow regimented schedules during their days in the jail. The Auburn prison accepted the new form of penal codes after a terrible previous solitary system failure. This movement expanded from one side of the country to the other.

Prison Life

During the 19th century, prisoners had no rights or any opportunity to live semi-comfortably. The Auburn system established several characteristics that were unique to the world of disciplinary conditions. Silence was the biggest factor in the line of rules the prisoners had to follow. Cray wanted the prisoners to be completely silent. This lack of speaking takes away the prisoners' “sense of self”. When the “sense of self” was taken away, many convicts became complacent and obedient to the warden’s wishes. The second characteristic of the Auburn system that was important to prison life was the community activities. During regimented times during the day, the prisoners would have different task to perform everyday. Some of these task included making “nails, barrels, clothing, shoes and boots, carpets, buttons, carpenters’ tools, steam engines and boilers, combs, harnesses, furniture, brooms, clocks, buckets and pails, saddle trees...”. During the year 1840s, the prison began to make production in the silk business by bringing in silk worms and trees. The Auburn correctional facility was the first prison to gain money as a profit for the labor of the prisoners. The prison also gained many sight-seers during the 19th century. These visits by strangers made life even more unbearable because of the constant flow of free people.

Lockstep and Clothing

John D. Cray also created a revolutionary system of transporting the convicts around the prison complex. The prisoners marched in unison and had to lock their arms to the convict in front of them. The most important part of the lockstep was the prisoners had to look to one side and were not allowed to look at the guards or the other inmates. The clothing of the Auburn state prison was very simple but effective in its meaning. The uniform consisted of a grayish material with horizontal stripes. Their clothes were humiliating for whoever wore them or looked at them.

Punishment

In 1821, a new principal keeper, Elam Lynds, was appointed to maintain order and silence of the prison. “Lynds believed absolutely in the disciplinary power of the lash and used flogging to punish even minor infractions. Over the several years, when Elam Lynds was in power, many inmates died from the abuse of the whip. In 1839, a prisoner died from neglect and over flogging. The committee of Auburn and other staff members of the Auburn Theological Seminary petitioned to bring the devastating issue of the punishments to the State government. “The law stated that six blows on the naked back with the "cat" or six-stranded whip was the most punishment that could be assigned for any one offense.” Then again in 1846 another meeting was congregated to abolish the use of whips as punishment. The flagellation could only be used for riots or only in severe cases. When whippings were prohibited, guards and keepers searched for new and inventive ways to punish the disorderly. “The shower bath consisted of a barrel about 4 1/2 feet high with a discharge tube at the bottom. The prisoner was stripped naked, bound hand and foot, with a wooden collar around his neck to prevent his moving his head. The barrel, with the inmate inside, was placed directly under an outlet pipe, where water, sometimes iced, would pour down.” Another form of punishment that was allowed was “the yoke”. The yoke used iron bars around the neck and arms of the prisoners.

Women and the Prison

In the early days of the prison, women inmates were held in the windowless and airless attic atop of the high security prison. They shared a single room and worked in the same area where they slept, primarily at "picking wool, knitting, and spooling." In 1838, all women prisoners were transferred to the then-new female wing at Sing Sing, but in 1892 the women returned to a new building added to the Auburn prison. The Auburn Women's Prison remained in operation until 1933, when a new maximum-security wing for female inmates opened at Bedford Hills. Alternative meaning: Sing Sing (band) Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a prison in Ossining, New York. ... Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women is a prison in Bedford Hills, Westchester County, New York It is the largest womens prison in New York State and has hosted many celebrity prisoners, including Pamela Smart, Sante Kimes, and Jean Harris. ...

The End of an Era

The Auburn system was not the most perfect penal system created. As time slowly progressed, new forms of discipline and new rights of prisoners grew also. Near the end of the 1800s most forms of abuse or corporal punishment were abolished from the codes. Next, the striped uniforms, lockstep and silent system were abandoned because most people thought they were too inhumane. Corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain and suffering intended to change a persons behavior or to punish them. ...

References

http://co.cayuga.ny.us/history/cayugahistory/prison.html