The Devil Made Me Do It!: Crime and Punishment in Early New England

by Juliet Haines Mofford

Tales of the country’s original criminals—and how the courts punished them for their misdeeds   Scarlet Letters, wanton dalliances, Sabbathbreaking, and Colonial laws were easily broken and the malefactors who broke them, swiftly punished. How did our ancestors deal with murder and mayhem? How did seventeenth- and eighteenth-century New England communities handle deviants? How have definitions of criminal behavior and its punishment changed over the centuries? What were early prisons like? What were the duties of a turn-key? Find out all this and more in The Devil Made Me Do It.   Drawing on early court dockets, diaries, sermons, gaolers’ records, and other primary sources, Juliet Haines Mofford investigates historical cases from a time when accused felons often pleaded in their own “The Devil made me do it!”   Among the questions that emerge in this fascinating Would spinster Sarah Booker be punished today for her 1769 theft of three skeins of linen yarn? Would Joan Andrews still get a T for Theft pinned upon her bodice for cheating a client by placing two stones in the firkin of butter she sold him?

Genres: History, True Crime, Nonfiction

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[QNPoohBear · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is geared towards the academic community but can be enjoyed by history enthusiasts as well. It's a gruesome look at crime and punishment in early colonial New England. The chapters include: The Puritan Way, Governing the Family, Governing the Community, The First Crime Wave: Crimes Against Religion, Sexual Deviants and Female Felons, The Second Colonial Crime Wave: Witches, Crimes Against Property, The Third Colonial Crime Wave: Pirates, Early Prisons and a case study on Patience Samson Boston, The Penitent Prisoner.

The author relies on published court records to sketch a picture of Puritan society and how the Puritan leaders tried to control human nature. It was impossible to do so of course, but they tried. Especially interesting was the chapter on women. I don't think most of us would have survived at that time, yet in some ways women had more freedom than they would have a few centuries later. The chapters are accompanied by woodcuts, paintings and illustrations. My biggest complaint with the book is just when it got really interesting and I wanted to know more, the author just stopped the story. I also disliked the inclusion of Rhode Island lumped in with the Puritan colonies. We were not a Puritan colony and had separation of church and state. Also, Rhode Island was one colony and there were other colonies that now make up the state of Rhode Island. We were quite progressive for the time and did not have any known cases of witchcraft.

This is a brief look at the laws and criminal cases of early New England. It's really a fascinating subject that deserves a longer book.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed it tremendously! Entertaining, informative. The author does a superb job in setting the evil-doing into the puritan world, society--This is not just a list of crime and punishment. So much evil scolding, "night walking", thievery. I know more than most people about this subject/time, and I learned a good bit. (But all that confessing! on the slimmest of evidence!)
The witch stuff is here, too, but does not overwhelm everything else.
And the story of Patience Boston was heartbreaking.

[Temple · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an addition to my knowledge of the period shortly after the pilgrims settled..! The information was startling at times - of a country settled to get away from persecution to the varied practices enacted once in this country. Some practices, such as having a tongue bored through with a hot iron, branding, or losing an ear for various crimes, are simply barbaric. The reality certainly doesn't fit the "romanticized" version of history. This book was well worth the read!

[Peggy Clemens Lauritzen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE anything and everything about old New England. I had this book read in about two days. I have highlighted and marked nearly every page. When my sister saw it, she took it home without asking, for she couldn't put it down.

Juliet Mofford has done a good and thorough job in her research.

[Peni Renner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book while I was researching for my own book, Puritan Witch; The Redemption of Rebecca Eames.
Ms. Mofford's book was very helpful and I enjoyed reading it very much.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this is no "Legal Executions in New England," one of my favorite books, but it was a pretty interesting overview of how deviance was defined and sanctioned in Puritan New England. Religion ruled, and relatively minor infractions could get you whipped, branded on your face, or hung. It was brutal and frankly downright barbaric. I'm glad I didn't have to live through that period. The book itself was basically a typology of crimes, and my only issues with it are that it sometimes felt like an annotated list and would end topics abruptly.

[Ryan Tyndall · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75*

[Lee L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I was quite bored with this book, as it seemed to be nothing more than a never-ending litany of examples of what was considered crime in Colonial New England and how it was dealt with. Scarlet letter, anyone? But the book held my interest. It is written in short vignettes that are constantly changing, and in some cases even became amusing. The early New Englanders seem to be nothing more than self-important sadists who enjoyed looking down their religious noses at those not sharing their beliefs, spying on their neighbors in the hope of finding something to tattle to authorities and whipping each other as a form of public entertainment.

Flogging seems to be the preferred method of punishment in early New England, followed closely by fines, public humiliation, banishment and hanging (which in my opinion may actually have been preferable to having one’s tongue bored through with a hot spike). Author Juliet Haines Mofford successfully tackles the job of condensing hundreds if not thousands of accounts into this enjoyable, interesting tome that entertains as well as informs.

“The Devil Made Me Do It,” which was actually a viable defense in early New England, is written in everyday speak and very accessible prose that keeps this book from reading like a textbook, which it very well could have in the wrong hands. Mofford brings alive for us the era of early New England and the seriousness to the Puritans of crimes that today would be easily overlooked. Their deep-seated belief in Satan’s constant striving to corrupt their Godly settlements and their efforts to stave off satanic rule dominated their days and court trials. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Colonial New England.

[Janellyn51 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll tell you one thing....While I've always been proud of being descended from the Mayflower....those Puritans were nuts. I can't understand how they didn't get the part that if your parents escaped from one country to escape religious persecution, then maybe not persecuting other people who are just trying to do their own thing, isn't the way to go. Hester Prynne got off easy just having to wear the scarlet letter! Neighbors were encouraged to spy on neighbors, and God help you if they didn't like you! Even without the whole witchcraft thing, you were likely to have an ear cropped, be whipped, hung,, being run out of town could practically be looked on as a blessing. The book is a little dry, but interesting none the less.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy learning more about history. This book has some interesting chapters with historical accounts. I found there were times I just wanted to get on to the next chapter and started scanning sections.

[Mark Nambo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and full of information

"The Devil Made Me Do It.." book, is a good source of information regarding some of the sociological norms with retrospect of the rules/laws and those broken in early New England.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thorough and well-executed account of crime and punishment in early New England. Puts to rest some of the more well-known inaccuracies about the period. Very readable.