Describe the features of the Auburn System and why it became the prototype for future American prison designs. The deplorable conditions in early colonial American jails led to reform. In 1790, the...

Describe the features of the Auburn System and why it became the prototype for future American prison designs.

The deplorable conditions in early colonial American jails led to reform. In 1790, the Philadelphia Society to Alleviate the Miseries of Public Prisons led by the Quakers sought reforms and renovations to the Walnut Street jail in Philadelphia. The first state prison, Eastern State Penitentiary, was built in Pennsylvania in 1829. This system utilized single-cell construction and solitary confinement. Eventually this design proved too expensive in the face of growing prison populations. Eventually, a new design known as the Auburn system served as the future model for American prisons. Separate from the Auburn System, Southern states developed a unique prison system, utilizing convicts as farm laborers. By 1930, the prisoner lease system was replaced by the prison farm system, which utilized inmate labor to maintain large prison farms.

1. Provide an example of the harsh conditions of an early colonial jail.

2. What was the objective of the Eastern State Penitentiary?

3. Why did New York’s Auburn system prevail over the Pennsylvania system?

4. What was the convict lease system?