Explain why the Bloody Code was developed and ended!

During the 1600’s, England was changing dramatically, this in affected many crimes and punishments. The most dramatic change was the growth of population; this meant that with more people it was harder to find jobs. The amount of travel increased due to improved transport links and the development of coaches. However another change was that the poor became poorer and the rich became richer, the government was introducing more tax on goods as they were in need of money due to the war. The Bloody Code saw a dramatic increase in the number of executions. The Waltham Black Act of 1723 saw an increase in the number of crimes punishable by death, including if anything was stolen that was worth over 1 shilling. Apart from execution there were a number of other punishments that could be used, such as whipping, fines, prisons for debtors and transportation.

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The Bloody Code was developed to act as a deterrent against criminals. There were other punishments which could be used as shown above, wasn’t doing this very effectively as the number of crimes were still rising, from an average of 50, to 160 by 1750 and to 288 by 1815. Another reason I think the Bloody Code was developed is because landowners had emerged from the 1600’s more successful, they based their power on the amount of property they owned, the landowners also felt that one of the laws main priorities was to protect their property. The crime rate was not as high during the 1700’s, but they feared that it was, as towns grew in size and the old village community crumbled, there was also no police force that looked after the village on a daily basis, that had been lost. The Bloody Code was therefore a threat, people were now thinking of breaking the law by abusing property rights, they felt they could get away with this as there was no community police force in the community to act as another deterrent.
Furthermore another reason the Bloody code was developed is the fact they were held in public and thousands turned out to watch. The idea was clearly to act as a deterrent to others to observe the laws or see what could happen to them; however, fewer people were hanged under the Bloody Code than before it. In the 17th century a total of 175 people were hanged in London and Devon and 23 in the 18th century in London and Devon.

By the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign, the Bloody Code of the previous century, the 18th century, had almost disappeared. Capital punishment only remained for murderers and traitors. Transportation to Australia was at its highest in the 1830s, transportation ended in the early 1850s because of the increasing number of Australians who objected to their land being used as a dumping ground for our criminals. Also new acts were brought in during the century to stop capital punishments and use more relevant methods, prisons were used instead and more codes were developed within these prisons, the separate and silent system was created to stop prisoners trading knowledge and any information of what they had done and how they had done it.

Overall the Bloody Code was developed and ended because they country during this time were very insecure and the population of England didn’t know what they were about. The countries religion had been changed from protestant to catholic and vice versa, so people didn’t know what to believe in and had very little confidence in themselves and therefore turned to crime.

Shane Lightfoot

Mrs. Mason