Convict
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A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison".[1] Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con",[2] while a common label for former convicts, especially those recently released from prison, is "ex-con" ("ex-convict"). Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences tend not to be described as "convicts".
The label of "ex-convict" usually has lifelong implications, such as
Historical usage
The particular use of the term "convict" in the English-speaking world was to describe the huge numbers of criminals, both male and female, who clogged British
Initially many British convicts were sent to the American colonies, such as Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia, as cheap labour. The transportation of convicts from the United Kingdom began around 1615 and became increasingly common in the following years. Initially most people were transported to North America or the West Indies, but from 1718 onwards transportation was entirely to North America. The arrangements ceased when the American Revolutionary War meant it was no longer possible for the United Kingdom to send convicts to what had become the United States.
The British Government then looked to the newly discovered east coast of Australia to use as a penal colony. Convicts were transported to Australia in 1787, arriving in Botany Bay, then Sydney Cove, in January 1788. From the very start of European settlement convicts were used as indentured labourers in five out of the six colonies. Many were used on public works, but a significant number were "assigned" to private individuals as domestic servants, rural workers, etc. Transportation was progressively abolished from 1853, eventually ceasing altogether in 1868.
In Australia, convicts have come to be key figures of cultural
British convicts were also sent to Canada, West Africa,[3] and India. France also sent convicts to New Caledonia and to Devil's Island in French Guiana.
See also
- Convicted felon
- Convict lease
- Convict assignment
- Convicts in Australia
- Older prisoners
- Penal transportation
Notes
- ^ Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, p. 311 (2d Coll. Ed. 1978).
- ^ Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, p. 292 (2d Coll. Ed. 1978).
- ISBN 978-0-19-969593-5.