The Piracy Act 1717 (4 Geo 1 c 11), sometimes called the Transportation Act 1717 (1718 in

New Style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...

), was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that established a regulated, bonded system to transport criminals to colonies in North America for

indentured service Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an "indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment, ...

, as a punishment for those convicted or attainted in Great Britain, excluding Scotland. The Act established a seven-year transportation sentence as a punishment for people convicted of lesser felonies (those under the

benefit of clergy In English law, the benefit of clergy (Law Latin: ''privilegium clericale'') was originally a provision by which clergymen accused of a crime could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead in an ec ...

), and a fourteen-year sentence for more serious crimes, in lieu of

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. Completion of the sentence had the effect of a pardon; the punishment for returning before completion was death. An estimated 50,000 convicts (women, men and children) were transported to the British American colonies. The Act established that merchants and others could contract transport convicts, after giving a surety bond that the transport would be made and the term of service would be completed. To accomplish this, the Act declared that the contractor had a property and interest in the convict's transport and service. Significantly under section five, and after noting the many idle youth "lurking" about London and elsewhere, wanting employment, and otherwise tempted toward crime "if not provided for," the Transportation Act included that merchants and others could also contract with 15-20 year-olds, who were willing to be transported and serve up to eight years indentured service. Other sections of the Act imposed stricter measures against

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

stolen goods, making them fourteen-year sentences instead of mere accessories to theft; imposed a seven-year transportation sentence for those imprisoned for, or breaking, the long-time prohibition on exporting wool in violation of the Acts of Trade.

Development and passage

Although the sentence of transportation with the

royal prerogative of mercy In the English and British tradition, the royal prerogative of mercy is one of the historic royal prerogatives of the British monarch, by which they can grant pardons (informally known as a royal pardon) to convicted persons. The royal prer ...

had been granted as an alternative to a death sentence for a century, its usage was irregular and subject to abuse. Several sections of the

Habeas Corpus Act 1679 The Habeas Corpus Act 1679 is an Act of Parliament in England (31 Cha. 2 c. 2) during the reign of King Charles II. It was passed by what became known as the Habeas Corpus Parliament to define and strengthen the ancient prerogative writ of '' ...

, as originally passed, contained provisions related to its then-current usage. The Bill for the Act was introduced into the House of Commons in 1717 under the Whig government by William Thomson, the Solicitor General, who became "the architect of the transportation policy" as developed under the Act. The Act mandated transportation as a direct sentence, thus simplifying and hastening the process of criminal sentencing., p.503-504 The reasons for passing the Act, as stated in the preamble, include the insufficiently effective sentencing, recidivism, the fact that many offenders previously extended this mercy had not transported themselves, "and whereas in many of his Majesty's colonies and plantations in America, there is great want of servants, who by their hard labour and industry might be the means of improving and making the said colonies and plantations more useful to this nation." Passage also derived from the convergence of a number of events at the time, including fears over rising crime and disorder, following the discharge of soldiers after the end of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

in 1714, a contested Hanoverian accession to the British throne, inappropriate punishments for lesser felonies ( misdemeanours), concern over crowd behaviour at public punishments, and a new determination by parliament to push through the legislation despite colonial opposition. Transportation thus became a regularly available and normal sentence for the courts to hand down to those convicted of non-capital offences as well as capital crimes.

Provisions

The Act 7 & 8 Geo 4 c 27 repealed the whole of the Piracy Act 1717 as to England and as to offences committed within the jurisdiction of the admiralty of England, except so much thereof as related to the trial of piracy, felony or robbery committed within the admiralty jurisdiction. The effect of this was to repeal the whole Act, except section 7.

Section 7

Unrelated to transportation, section 7 concerns the suppression of

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

. The death penalty for most kinds of piracy was abolished by the

Piracy Act 1837 The Piracy Act 1837 (7 Will 4 & 1 Vict c 88) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It abolished the death penalty for most offences of piracy, but created a new offence often known as piracy with violence, which was punishable with ...

, which preserved the death penalty for piracy with intent to kill. The words from "and shall and ought" to the end were repealed by section 1 of, and the First Schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1948. This section was repealed by section 10(2) of, and Part I of Schedule 3 to the

Criminal Law Act 1967 The Criminal Law Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made some major changes to English criminal law, as part of wider liberal reforms by the Labour government elected in 1966. Most of it is still in force. Territ ...

Later Acts and general results

Following the initial passage of the 1717 Act, several other statutes regulating and related to the penal transportation system to America were passed.Hugh Edward Egerton
A short history of British colonial policy
p.262-269 (1897) The Robbery, etc. Act 1719 (6 Geo 1 c 23) amended the previous Act, authorized payments by the state to the merchants who contracted to take the convicts to America,Transportation
/ref> and broadened the types of crimes subject to transportation. The Return of Offenders from Transportation Act 1742 (16 Geo 2 c 15) reinforced the death penalty for transportees returning early. Following the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took ...

, the Traitors Transported Act 1746 (20 Geo 2 c 46) was passed, among other things, to deal mercifully with many of those detained. The Transportation Act 1768 (8 Geo 3 c 15) was passed to make the existing transportation process faster and more effectual. The Transportation Act, with the system that developed in North America, are generally considered a success; it became a popular method for criminal punishment, as well as for dealing with the poorer and younger elements of British urban society at the time. One reason for the success of this Act was that it obviated the financially costly voyage itself; the existing system of sponsorship by merchants had not worked effectively and needed improvement. The government eventually accepted Thomson's proposal to pay merchants to transport convicts, with the Treasury contracting London merchant Jonathan Forward., p.429-430 The business was entrusted to Forward in 1718. Initially he was paid £3 for each prisoner transported, but the price was raised to £5 in 1727. Despite some complaints from colonial governments, the system was favored by the British government. In exchange for relatively small monetary subsidies, contractors relieved the government of convict maintenance costs. Contractors then sold transported prisoners in labour-starved colonial markets, such as the Chesapeake, for an average price of £10.

Suspension and significance

As thus developed, the established system for transporting convicts to the British American colonies continued until 1776 when its use was temporarily suspended by the Criminal Law Act 1776 (16 Geo 3 c 43).Marilyn C. Baseler
"Asylum for Mankind": America, 1607-1800
p.125, Cornell University Press (1998) The outbreak of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

had made continuing transportation there unfeasible, and recently illegal. The last convict ship to depart Britain docked in Virginia in April that year.Emily Jones Salmon
Convict Labor During the Colonial Period

Encyclopedia Virginia Virginia Humanities (VH), formerly the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, is a humanities council whose stated mission is to develop the civic, cultural, and intellectual life of the Commonwealth of Virginia by creating learning opportunities f ...

Under the Criminal Law Act, felons continued to be sentenced to transportation, but with no place to go, were liable instead to a sentence at hard labour until alternative provisions could be made. The rebellion and the end of transport to America in part prompted the British use of prisons for punishment and the start of prison building programs (as opposed to the use of gaols related to trial or sentencing) because the important transportation alternative to the death penalty had been removed. The Criminal Law Act is also referred to as the "Hard Labour Act" and the "Hulks Act" due to the change in punishment and the overcrowded conditions that resultedDrew D. Gray
Crime, Policing and Punishment in England, 1660-1914
p.298 (2016) While initially suspended for two years by the 1776 Act, it would be continued until 1779 by the Criminal Law Act 1778 (18 Geo 3 c 62) and the Criminal Law Act 1779 (19 Geo 3 c 54), with little resolution of the developing accommodation problems. This situation would continue without any resolution until orders in council on 6 December 1785 which mandated the establishment of a

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. In 1787 British transportation of criminals resumed with the departure of the First Fleet to colonies being established in Australia; its usage would be greatly reduced in the 1850s, but continue until the last arrived in 1868.

Footnotes

External links

Text of the Transportation Act 1717
Statutes at Large, via Internet Archive {{GB legislation Great Britain Acts of Parliament 1717 Piracy law Repealed Great Britain Acts of Parliament Piracy in the United Kingdom