Readings:

Increase Mather: "A sermon occasioned by the execution of a man found guilty of Murder" (1685)

William Shurtleff: "The Faith and Prayer for a dying Malefactor" (1739)

Various authors: "The Enlightenment," "Tabula Rasa" (2000)

John Battus: "The Confession of John Battus, a mulatto, aged 19 years and 7 months who was executed at Dedham, November 8, 1804, for the crimes of a most cruel rape and murder on the body of Salome Talbot, of Canton, in the 14th year of her age" (1804)

During the late Eighteenth Century, Americans radically revised how they conceived of criminals. Much of our current understanding of the moral relationship between the criminal and the rest of society assumed its now familiar shape during this period. In your homework for this week, you will be examining a number of primary and secondary sources in order to understand this shift in perceptions. This assignment does NOT explicitly describe the transformation; rather, it poses a series historical questions and provides you with the evidence necessary to answer them. You might want to think of the assignments for the next two weeks as puzzles that need to be thought out.

The assignment takes place in two parts. First, for next week (3/12) you will read the various sources and answer a number of pre-writing exercises intended to focus your thinking regarding the evidence. The following week you will write your first essay, using your answers to this week’s assignment as the kernel of your paper.

Reading Questions:

When answering these questions, use your own words – if you are tempted to answer the question solely with a direct quotation from the author, you probably don’t understand that paragraph yet. Read and think about the section until you can describe it in your own words. Of course, when supplying evidence to support your claim in your response to the questions below, a direct quotation will make sense — but a quotation can not, in and of itself, make your answer. In short, it might be helpful to you to follow the familiar CLAIM-EVIDENCE-WARRANT form when answering these questions.

These questions pertain to both the primary and secondary sources in your reading.

Your first reading is a brief excerpt from a primary source -- William Shurtleff’s "The Faith and Prayer for a dying Malefactor: A Sermon Preach’d December 27, 1739 on the Occafion of the Execution of two Criminals, Namely, Sarah Simpfon and Penelope Kenny." You may recall from our discussion in class that such execution sermons were common at the time. In this sermon, Shurtleff exhorts his audience to find in the execution of two women — convicted of infanticide — a particular theological lesson about the relationship between sinful crime and one’s relationship to God.

Look to the first full paragraph on the second page (page ii) of the sermon ("Now, tho’ curiosity might move many persons…") to answer the following questions:

A) What, according to Shurtleff, prevents the individuals watching the execution from committing crimes as vile as those perpetrated by the condemned? How do you know?

B) For Shurtleff, what is the moral "nature" of the audience? Of the condemned? Do these "natures" differ? How do you know?

Look to third full paragraph on page 19 ("And. Men and Brethren, let me…") to answer the following question:

C) How, according to Shurtleff, should the audience attending the execution think of the condemned? Are they -- according to Shurtleff — to be considered members of the community? How do you know?

Your second reading is another, somewhat less brief, excerpt from a primary source --

Increase Mather’s "A sermon occasioned by the execution of a man found guilty of Murder" (1685); I’ve only given you pages 21 —33. In this sermon, Increase Mather, describes for his audience the meaning he thinks they should read into the execution of James Morgan for the murder a man in vengeance (often referred to as "this sin" in the text).

Look to the first full paragraph on page 21 of the sermon ("Vs3 2. For the exhortation. There is a double Exhortation before us:") to answer the following questions:

1. For Mather, has the condemned done something that the audience is unlikely or unable to do? How do you know?
2. What, according to Mather, keeps the audience from committing the same sin? How do you know?

 

3. Looking at your responses to (A) and (B) above, is the condemned -- according to Mather -- more like or more dislike the audience at his execution? How do you know?

 

Look to the first half on page 22 of the sermon to answer the following questions:

4. What must we -- according to Mather — control in order not to commit both lesser and greater sins? How do you know?
5. According to Mather, is that which compelled the condemned man to commit his crime (see question "D" above) unique or isolated to criminals? How do you know?
6. In light of your response to question (E) above, how might that which Mather assumes compelled the condemned man to commit his crime differ from that which we often now call a "motive"? How do you know?

Look to the first half on page 27 of the sermon to answer the following questions:

7. What is the REAL sin that Morgan -- according to Mather — committed? Is this a sin others are likely to commit as well? According to Mather, how different is Morgan in his sinfulness from those attending his execution? How do you know?

First, read the secondary sources entitled, Tabula Rasa and the Enlightenment (soon to be available on our web site with critical words linked to an encyclopedia, see the syllabus by Saturday evening), and in particular the reference to "original sin".

Then, answer the following questions:

1. If one were to assume that yes, indeed, our minds (and so, our characters or "nature") are like a Tabula Rasa at birth, what logically must be the origin of criminal behavior? What would compel someone, for example, to murder?

 

2. Look back to your answers to Question Set 1: B, Question Set 2: E and F. How and why might the introduction of the Enlightenment notion of Tabula Rasa shape or change the idea the notion of the character or "nature" of criminals or criminal behavior? In answering this question, think about the different perceptions society had as to the origins of one’s "nature" before and after the Enlightenment.

Your fourth reading is another primary source; however, unlike the previous two primary source readings, this was written AFTER the spread of Enlightenment thought in America. Keep this essential fact in mind as you both read the source and answer the questions.

The source "The Confession of John Battus, a mulatto, aged 19 years and 7 months who was executed at Dedham, November 8, 1804, for the crimes of a most cruel rape and murder on the body of Salome Talbot, of Canton, in the 14th year of her age" (1804) assumes the form of a confession by Battus, but was assembled and written by others and features their commentary upon his confession. You should think, accordingly, of this pamphlet as the writing of others in the voice of John Battus.

1. In the first paragraph of the first page (after the cover piece), to what is John Battus likened?
2. In the middle of the second paragraph ("to rid the world of…") of the first page, to what is John Battus likened?
3. In the section from (B) above, what is the relationship between the criminal and society?
4. Thinking about your response to question ( C ) above, how does that notion of the criminal-society relationship differ from the one which emerges from your responses to Question Set 1:B, Question Set 1:C; Question Set 2: C and Question Set 2; E?
5. What adjectives are used to describe Battus and his actions in the last paragraph of page (3) ("lerthen the abominable crimes of the unhappy J. Battus)
6. Turn to page (19) of Battus’ confession. Here, he addresses the parents of his victim. What terms does he use to describe himself and his actions?
7. In light of your responses to questions A — F above, answer the following questions. According to the authors of this pamphlet, are Battus’ character and behaviors more like or more dislike those of the community around him? How do you know?
8. If, according to Enlightenment thought, human beings would not engage in evil acts unless something in their past experiences corrupted them towards such behavior, and nothing in Battus’ past suggested he had been corrupted in such a fashion, what is the logical conclusion about Battus — from the perspective of the new Enlightenment thought?

Assume for the moment that the first two primary source readings represent the prevailing thinking in America regarding the nature of the criminal before the Enlightenment and that the last primary source reading represents the prevailing thinking after the Enlightenment. Answer the following question:

I) How and why did the arrival of the Enlightenment transform the thinking about the nature of the criminal and criminal behavior change in America?