Bloody Code Essay

In 1688 very little crime carried the sentence of death. Among the crimes punishable by death were, murder, rape, treason, and generally arson. During this period as little as fifty crimes required the death penalty. However, this quantity would increase drastically. By 1765 the number of criminal offenses that were punishable by death increased from no more than fifty in 1688 to one hundred and sixty. An additional sixty-five offenses were given the death penalty by 1815. Two-hundred and twenty-five crimes stood punishable by death by 1815. In hindsight, it appears that nearly everything was a capital crime. The multitude of crimes that carried a capital offense were not as severe as murder, arson, rape, and treason. The crimes that now carried …show more content…
Many of the crimes that eventually carried the sentence of death were crimes that involved personal property. The English legal system became more susceptible to the Bloody Code in a time where significant changes were taking place. During this era events, such as, The Glorious Revolution and The Napoleonic Wars took place. The English legal system would eventually progress into a more strident one in response to an increase of lesser crimes due to a rise in population, the inclination of people to protect their private property from burglary and similar crimes, and the government’s attempt to use swift justice to instill fear and impede any future …show more content…
Precisely every crime was punishable by death in the time of the Bloody Code. The proliferation in population brought on new and more types of crimes, people’s concern over protecting their property and personal belongings was of big concern, and the governments unwarranted desire to enact swift justice and act as a deterrent for future criminals earned England the reputation of possessing a brutal legal system. Society in England took a drastic turn and the rise of new varieties of crimes emerged with it. New institutions were developed to inhibit the growing list of crimes. Preventive police were among the institutions that emerged to manage crimes and these institutions effectively improved conviction rates. With the ability to successfully hold people accountable for their crimes, this meant that there were more people punishable by death. The necessity to find a more favorable outcome as supposed to death became dire to the country. Ultimately, the nature of crimes became an important factor when deciding punishment. Additionally, there were other alternatives of punishment, such as imprisonment. British would continue to reform the consequences of crimes and eventually do away with the death penalty entirely by the