Prison Populations

The United States prison system is among the largest in the world. In terms of population the United States has more prisoners than any other nation in the world. In 2009 756 out of every 100,000 people were incarcerated (Jones, 2009). The massive system it is today, however, started from humble beginnings. The very first penitentiary was the Walnut Street Prison, which was opened in a wing of the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia. This first penitentiary used the theory that silence and labor would best help to rehabilitate criminals (Gaines & Miller, 2006). The Walnut Street Jail led to many other penitentiaries built in many states. Each state had their own way of using the theories of silence and labor, but two in particular, Pennsylvania and New York, helped to shape the debate on what the best way to run a prison. This has been commonly referred to as the Great Penitentiary Rivalry.

The Great Penitentiary Rivalry was instrumental in helping to shape America’s prison system. The two main systems, the Pennsylvania and the New York both used silence and labor as a means of controlling the prisoners.

In the 1820s Pennsylvania opened up the Eastern and Western Penitentiaries. These penitentiaries were based on the idea of separate confinement. Separate confinement entailed keeping the inmates away from one another so that no contact was had and by keeping the inmates busy with small tasks. This meant that the inmates had no contact with other people, except for visits from clergy or prison officials to give religious instruction. The inmates in the Pennsylvania system ate, slept, and worked alone.

The New York system was the antithesis of the Pennsylvania system. When New York’s first state prison, Newgate Prison, outgrew its capacity Auburn Prison was built and received its first inmates in 1817. ” The "Auburn System" included separate confinement of inmates, congregate work during the day, enforced silence, lockstep walking, striped...