History of the DP History vs. Legal History (Legal history often treated as "independent") “Periodization” - what was going on at the time? CONTEXT

History of the DP US legal system based on English legal system Statute Law - by legislators "Common Law" - by courts ruling in cases So we start with a closer look at the British legal system and Cap Pun

History of the DP Three key historical processes: enclosures clearing of the estates seizure of church lands

History of the DP These created huge completely impoverished "surplus pops" of displaced peasants over several centuries (later in this process factories absorb parts of the surplus pops)

History of the DP The masses of poor people became a threat to the elites (the nobility and rich landowners) and they responded by "criminalizing" everything that these displaced peasants did to live

History of the DP As the surp pops grew, the punishments for their new "crimes" grew as well - and this later came to be called the "Bloody Code" Slavery, torture, mutilation - men, women, children -- and tens of thousands of executions.

History of the DP As Peter Linebaugh points out in The London Hanged, these were all designed to terrorize the impoverished surplus pops - especially executions. But none of these "worked" (to suppress crime) - because of the steadily increasing numbers of surplus pops Even the prison hulks didn't work.

History of the DP What eventually did work was forced transportation of the surp pops to America, and later Australia. Plus the factories were absorbing more into the wage work force as England industrialized. By the 1800s the surp pops were shrinking and the Bloody Code was slowly rescinded.

History of the DP Similar historical processes happened across much of Europe, usually later than in England, but the DP seemed to always be basically a response to impoverished surplus populations. How does this relate to the US??