The Rise of the Penitentiary

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The Rise of the Penitentiary: Prisons and Punishment in Early America is a study about how the modern prison system began in the United States, focusing on Massachusetts. Written by Adam J. Hirsch and published by Yale University Press on June 24, 1992, the book explains how ideas about punishment moved from theory to real prisons and organized systems.

Hirsch argues there was no single reason to favor penitentiaries. Instead, three main ideas merged. First, 17th-century English workhouses suggested that teaching inmates new skills could reduce crime and poverty. Second, 18th-century European rational criminology proposed that consistent punishments (not the death penalty) could control crime. Third, late-18th-century English thought of reclamation held that prisons could retrain people and actually change their character.

Because these ideas came from different sources, prison philosophy became complex and, in Hirsch’s view, imperfect as a solution. Using Massachusetts as a template, the book shows how these theories turned into actual prisons and procedures.