A timeline of incarceration in the United States
Beginning in Philadelphia in the late 1700s, the U.S. prison system has evolved over the centuries to become the largest in the world.
Eastern State Penitentiary. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. But while prison has become a central part of the criminal justice system, it wasn’t always this way.
Around the country’s founding, prison was a novel concept just beginning to take off. Previously, crimes were met often with harsh punishments such as whipping or branding or even the death penalty. But Quaker reformers sought to use solitary confinement as a tool of rehabilitating prisoners, kickstarting the modern prison movement in Philadelphia with the repurposing of the Walnut Street Jail and the creation of Eastern State Penitentiary.
From Quaker reforms to the convict leasing system to the criminalization of drugs, read and interact with the timeline below to learn more about the history of U.S. incarceration.
WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.
