Cities.

The period from 1815 to 1850 witnessed important changes in the administration of criminal justice in the United States. These developments primarily reflected two factors. The first was the continued working out of the ideals that had prompted Thomas Jefferson and other leaders of the Revolution to identify criminal justice reform as a key element of the American republic. The second was the social restructuring that followed the War of 1812, particularly the rapid growth of cities that challenged the social order and deepened fears of crime. Many aspects of the city contributed to these apprehensions: the built environment of dark streets and alleys, the size and density of urban populations, the increasing ethnic diversity that accompanied immigration, and the desperate poverty of slums such as Five Points in New York or the Half-Moon District in Boston. Magnified by the city, although not unique to...