The first known prison in the United States was Walnut Street Jail, a jail converted to a penitentiary by Quakers in Pennsylvania in 1790. The Quakers used a form of punishment that included inmates repenting for what they had done in solitary confinement. They had little contact with anyone. Shortly after, other prisons came about in Pennsylvania, leading to more prisons along the northern east coast of the United States. Between 1825 and 1876 was an era known as, The Mass Prison Era. The Mass Prison Era adopted a new system of punishment called, the Auburn system. According to Schmalleger, the Auburn system depended on whipping and hard labor to maintain the rule of silence (455). The prisoners did not receive solitary confinement unless they were being punished for an offense, unlike the Pennsylvania system where prisoners served sentences, isolated at almost all times. Many eras followed such as, the Reformatory Era (1876-1890), the Industrial Era (1890-1935), the Punitive Era (1935-1945), the Treatment Era (1945-1967), the Community-Based Era (1967-1980), the Warehousing Era (1980-1995), and the Just Deserts Era
The first known prison in the United States was Walnut Street Jail, a jail converted to a penitentiary by Quakers in Pennsylvania in 1790. The Quakers used a form of punishment that included inmates repenting for what they had done in solitary confinement. They had little contact with anyone. Shortly after, other prisons came about in Pennsylvania, leading to more prisons along the northern east coast of the United States. Between 1825 and 1876 was an era known as, The Mass Prison Era. The Mass Prison Era adopted a new system of punishment called, the Auburn system. According to Schmalleger, the Auburn system depended on whipping and hard labor to maintain the rule of silence (455). The prisoners did not receive solitary confinement unless they were being punished for an offense, unlike the Pennsylvania system where prisoners served sentences, isolated at almost all times. Many eras followed such as, the Reformatory Era (1876-1890), the Industrial Era (1890-1935), the Punitive Era (1935-1945), the Treatment Era (1945-1967), the Community-Based Era (1967-1980), the Warehousing Era (1980-1995), and the Just Deserts Era