Auburn vs. Eastern State: Early American Prison Systems

Introduction: Origins of American Prison Reform

In the early 1800s, the United States became the focus of prison reform when both New York and Pennsylvania introduced new systems of incarceration. Prior to this time, prisons were "used largely for persons awaiting trial and other punishments and for debtors" (Johnston). With the advent of these new systems, however, a whole new era emerged in prison design, purpose, and administration. Pennsylvania, the traditional home of the Quakers, had abolished the death penalty for all crimes except murder, which led to the need for an alternative sentence. Long confinement became the obvious choice, and the state embarked on building an institution that reflected Quaker philosophy. The first of these "penitentiaries" to be constructed was Eastern State Penitentiary. New York, meanwhile, also needed to house prisoners for long-term confinement but took a more practical approach, basing its designs on efficiency rather than ideology. In the end, it was the New York system — represented by Auburn State Prison — that became the foundation of America's correctional system.

The Pennsylvania System: Eastern State Penitentiary

It was at the home of Benjamin Franklin in 1787 that members of a group called the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons met and first proposed a radical new idea: to "build a true penitentiary, a prison designed to create genuine regret and penitence in the criminal's heart" ("History of Eastern State"). This vision required a complete rethinking of prison design and administration, with every element planned around the inmate's spiritual reflection and moral transformation.

The result was a system that stressed the inmate's isolation from other inmates, combined with a great deal of labor. Each inmate was placed in an individual cell and remained there for most of the day — eating, sleeping, and working in complete isolation. Inmates were even hooded when taken outside their cells. The underlying idea was that isolation would allow a prisoner to reflect on the wrongs they had committed, and that, without the distraction of bad influences from other inmates, genuine penitence and rehabilitation could be achieved. Because total isolation was essential to the system, Eastern State Penitentiary needed to be a large, imposing structure — one that was inherently inefficient in its use of both space and administrative resources.

The New York System: Auburn State Prison

While the goal of reforming inmates was the same in New York, authorities there took a decidedly more practical approach. New York officials concluded that complete isolation was unnatural and cruel, breeding despair and insanity. Furthermore, "inmates restricted to their cells 24 hours a day contributed nothing to the cost of their own confinement" ("The Evolution of the New York Prison System"). In response, New York constructed Auburn State Prison, which kept prisoners separated from one another in their cells at night but provided common work and dining areas during the day.

Inmates were kept in a form of enforced isolation through strict rules: they were required to maintain complete silence at all times and were forbidden from speaking to one another. The New York system maintained that a "steady, predictable, unrelenting routine of hard work, moderate meals, silent evenings, and restful nights in individual cells would produce men who were, indeed, cured of all vices and excesses" ("The Evolution of the New York Prison System").

References

Johnston, Norman. (2011). "Prison Reform in Pennsylvania." The Pennsylvania Prison Society. Retrieved from

"History of Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia." Eastern State Penitentiary Homepage. Retrieved from

"The Evolution of the New York Prison System [Part I]." Retrieved from