Given American’s origins as a refuge for escaped (and deported/exiled) criminals
That knowledge had previously escaped me. As it turns out, it’s not precise –
the colonies weren’t started for that reason, but criminals were</am> shipped here.
From a 2015 article on the subject:
‘Some female convicts were transported to the American colonies as well,
for crimes such as …’walk[ing] the streets after ten at night.’ ”
From comments on that article:
“The one thing I would point out is that quite a large portion of these “criminals”
did nothing worse than being poor. Sending people to “debtors’ prison” was a
pretty common practice at the time. In fact, I think most crimes that would
justify the “criminal” label these days would have just got you hanged back
then. I don’t think they were sending boatloads of convicted murderers over.”
“An ancestor of mine turned their maid in for stealing the silverware in 1728.
She was sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to transportation
to the colonies, which was standard for female death sentences.”