Convicts: A Global History

493 Pages·2022·6.594 MB·English

by  Clare Anderson

Convicts
ClareAndersonprovidesaradicalnewreadingofhistoriesofempireand
nation,showingthatthehistoryofpunishmentisnotconnectedsolelyto
the emergence of prisons and penitentiaries, but also to histories of
governance, occupation, and global connections across the world.
Exploring punitive mobility to islands, colonies, and remote inland
andborderregionsoveraperiodoffivecenturies,sheproposesaclose
andenduringconnectionbetweenpunishment,governance,repression,
and nation and empire building, and reveals how states, imperial
powers, and trading companies used convicts to satisfy various geo-
political and social ambitions. Punitive mobility became intertwined
withotherformsoflabourbondage,includingenslavement,withcon-
victsakeysourceofunfreelabourthatcouldbeusedtooccupyterritor-
ies.Farfrompassivesubjects,however,convictsmanifestedtheiragency
invariousforms,includingtheextensionofpoliticalideologyandcul-
tural transfer, and vital contributions to contemporary knowledge
production.
ClareAndersonisProfessorofHistoryattheUniversityofLeicester.

Convicts
A Global History
Clare Anderson
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Title:Convicts:aglobalhistory/ClareAnderson.
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ISBN 9781108840729(hardback)|ISBN9781108814942(paperback)|
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Subjects:LCSH:Convictlabor–History.|Convictlabor–Cross-cultural
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Contents
ListofFigures pageviii
ListofMaps x
ListofTables xi
Acknowledgements xii
1 Introduction 1
PartI 35
2 EmpiresandColonies 37
3 Nations,Borders,andIslands 73
4 Enslavement,Banishment,andPenalTransportation 100
5 ImperialGovernance 133
6 Insurgency,Politics,andReligion 172
PartII 217
7 PunishmentandPenalSystems 219
8 Encounters,Exploration,andKnowledge 249
9 Medicine,Criminality,andRace 287
10 TheHumanSciences 319
11 EscapeandExtradition 360
12 Conclusion 390
Appendix:PrincipalandSelectedImperialandLatin
AmericanSitesofPunitiveRelocation 406
Bibliography 413
Archives 458
Index 466
vii
Figures
1.1 MarçaldeCorria,byG.Ramage,1887 page2
1.2 Expedition[lefttoright]Mar[ç]al[deCorria],[GeorgeA.]
Ramage,H.N.R[idley],T.[S.]Lea,DaSilva[Sylvanode
Barro?] 3
1.3 Convictvillage 4
1.4 Thesquare,Fernando[de]Noronha.Myhorse,Marcal,in
background 5
2.1 ThenavalbaseonIrelandIslandintheBermudas,by
CaptainHenryRolfeRN,1839 58
2.2 Sickconvictsgoingtohospital!!!Bermuda 59
3.1 KuniyoshiUtagawa,Sashū ryū keiKakutanamidaimoku
(BanishmenttoSadoIsland:OntheWavesatKakuta),
woodblockprint,c.1835 80
3.2 Miniaturegeta(sandals)andshamisen(musicalinstrument) 88
3.3 Rosary,madefromplumseeds 88
4.1 SketchesofaflagtakenfromtheinsurgentslavesatBarbados,
1816 113
4.2 AviewinBelize,1829 116
4.3 ViewofSierraLeone,1838 121
5.1 HMPenalSettlementontheMazaruni,c.1842–3 149
6.1 TheCentralJailatPortBlair–663cells 193
6.2 ConvictuprisingatCastleHill1804 197
7.1 ConvictosenlaNuevaOlanda[ConvictsinNewHolland],
byFelipeBauza,c.1790 224
7.2 TheInternationalPrisonCongressintheMiddleTemple
Hall[London] 226
7.3 Pénitencierdépôtdescondamnésauxtravauxforces.
Photographer:E.Robin,c.1870 233
8.1 Leafyseadragon,byWilliamBuelowGould,c.1832 272
9.1 AnthropometryStudio,Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni,French
Guiana 296
viii
ListofFigures ix
9.2 AnArabtypeofconvict.Acombinationofidealityand
homicidalmania 299
9.3 Berezowski,thePolishAnarchistwhoattemptedtomurder
NapoleonIII,andTsarAlexanderII,intheChampsElysées.
OneoftheLowestTypesofCriminalFaces.Anillustrationof
theeasewithwhichitispossibletodisguisethechin,typical
ofmoralweakness,andthewild-beastmouth,whichnearly
allCriminalshave,bymeansofmoustacheandbeard 300
10.1 Devil’sIsland,paintedbyconvict 325
11.1 FiveescapedFrenchconvictsinBritishGuiana,1902 387