CRIME, PUNISHMENT AND PROTEST

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CRIME, PUNISHMENT AND PROTEST

EARLY MODERN BRITAIN, 1450 -1750

Why did attitudes to crime and punishment change?

* Growth of population and towns: over the next 300 years, England's population - especially in towns - increased greatly.

* Social and economic developments: From the sixteenth century, the larger landowners and wealthy merchants became extremely rich.

* Property and power: as the wealth of landowners and merchants increased, they began to want a bigger say in the running of the country. They were also concerned to control crime and protect their property from the poor.

* The spread of ideas: ideas about politics and religion were able to spread more quickly. The invention of printing, and an increase in the numbers of people who could read, meant important ideas reached down to the lower classes as well as those who traditionally exercised power.

* Improvements in travel: the use of coaches and wider possession of horses also helped ideas to spread more widely and more quickly. There were many reports about the growth of crime.

* Attitudes about crime and poverty: the upper and middle classes were also