Liberty's Prisoners: Carceral Culture in Early America

Liberty's Prisoners 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--women, enslaved people, and indentured servants--increasingly claimed their own right to life, liberty, and happiness. A diverse cast of women and...