Independance Day:- A Black Day for Brits?

[GrayMouser]

Can you please provide evidence of this? Especially since there were very few jails and low crime and poverty in colonial America. It had never been reported by eye-witnesses from England that America was a dumping ground for criminals. Also - don't you think with the MANY complaints the colonists had with Britain that was put into the Declaration of Independence - that being used as a dumping ground for British criminals would have been near the the top of the list?

Convicts were, next to the African slaves, the largest body of immigrants ever to be compelled to go to America. Transportation was a form of punishment in the 18th century, people were exiled to the American colonies. The legal frame was provided by the Transportation Act of 1718; it ended in 1775. Transported were people having committed property offences, which was the most common variety of crime. Most transports came to Maryland and Virginia.

The smallest proportion came from Scotland, a larger one was Irish. The majority of British convicts transported were native Englishmen sentenced in English courts. Variations always depended on the differing population sizes and the rates of crime (e.g. higher in London). People were often sentenced to either 7, 14 years or the whole life in exile.

Figures:

The total number of convicts from England and Wales is about 35,000 people. Ireland transported 16,000 convicts, Scotland only 800.

The predominant offence for which felons were transported was grand larcency, the theft of good values at a shilling and above. In addition to ordinary criminals, Irish courts also banished large numbers of vagabounds.

Social characteristics of transports:

The large majority was male (about 80%). Women were treated more leniently by courts and did not commit that many serious crimes. Most of the convicts were in their early twenties, and their occupations covered a broad spectrum. Many of them were bought for servants.

http://www.swan.ac.uk/history/teachi...2003/hanna.htm

or simply check " American colonies convicts" on Google for many more references.