The Serpentine Wall by James F. Harris

Author:James F. Harris [Harris, James F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion, Religion; Politics & State, Law, Government, Federal, Philosophy, General, Christian Church, History
ISBN: 9781412849708
Google: 9DJfglwGb2AC
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Published: 2013-01-01T04:59:35+00:00

Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia

One interesting involvement of church with state occurred in Philadelphia when the Quakers in Pennsylvania spearheaded the construction of the Eastern State Penitentiary, the first penitentiary in the United States. When it was finally completed in 1836, the building was the largest and the most expensive in the country, but the most important aspect of the penitentiary was not its size or cost but rather the theology behind it. For decades, the Quakers had opposed the severe corporal punishment common in so many prisons, along with the mass incarceration of offenders together in one confined space. The original theological basis for a penitentiary is that society should attempt to have criminals become “penitents” by forcing them to meditate quietly and privately on their offenses in solitude and to repent and reform.

To force such quiet, solitary reflection, the Quakers resorted to extreme measures. The prison was constructed with a central hub with private, individual cells clustered along spokes of cell blocks radiating out from the center. Strict, isolated silence was enforced. No talking or any other form of communication was tolerated among prisoners or between prisoners and guards. Prisoners were not allowed to see each other or the guards. Nor were the prisoners allowed to make any noise themselves. The Quakers thus incorporated their theological belief in an individual’s personal, direct, spiritual connection to God into the correctional policies of the state of Pennsylvania. Although the Eastern State Penitentiary closed in 1971 and is now a National Historic Landmark, its legacy is still felt today in the view of many that penal systems should “reform” offenders and turn them into “penitents.”

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