Major Research Essay Assignment

Using the published descriptions of Old Bailey (Londons Assize Court) trials available at [details on searching the site below], select ten unrelated descriptions of one type of crime between 1750 and 1760. Make sure that each account is several paragraphs in length. The primary objective of the essay is to answer the question:

What do these cases reveal about the criminal justice system of eighteenth-century England?

To adequately respond to the question, you will need to examine the verdicts, sentences, and the type and treatment of the evidence presented in the cases, as well as the role of the prosecutor, and any legal officials who are mentioned. A strong essay will make use of any evidence that might shed light on the eighteenth-century criminal justice system. To demonstrate the fact that your crime has characteristics typical of the justice system as a whole, you will need to talk about other crimes. Thus, this essay will also be substantially based upon secondary-source research in the social history of crime and criminal procedure in early modern England. Whenever relevant, consider the role of the politics, religion, economy, gender relationships, or class structure of early modern England in affecting the definition of the crime and its treatment within the courts. To this end, more general social histories of England may also be relevant. The primary source material should only be used to further illustrate conclusions derived from research of secondary sources. Because your sample of cases is neither random nor large, keep your observations qualitative rather than quantitative (i.e., avoid any statistical analysis of the ten cases). Use an analytical tone (this is how it was and why) rather than an evaluative tone (this was good/bad) in your essay.

The Old Bailey Proceedings are not trial transcripts; they were pamphlet accounts of trials that were published and sold after each meeting of the Old Bailey from the late seventeenth century onward. When reading these accounts, be aware of the authors voices mediating that of the other participants. Be prepared to rely heavily on our online subscription to the Oxford English Dictionary (available through the library under databases) to ascertain the eighteenth-century meaning of words. When the language used is a significant point in your essay, you may cite the OED, although dictionaries (like encyclopaedias) are not ordinarily allowable sources. The HISTORICAL BACKGROUND section in the Old Bailey website will be helpful for preliminary research, but cannot be cited. Instead, make sure that you find and cite corroborating evidence from relevant journal articles and monographs (many of which are listed on the websites bibliography). Citations for the Old Bailey cases should follow the guide on the website; all other citations should follow the Chicago Manual of Style.

Requirements: 4000-word essay that has consulted a minimum of 15 scholarly articles or books [including at least 5 journal articles and 5 books]

*course readings–including the article by Robert B. Shoemaker required for the Old Bailey Case Summary–do not count toward minimum, though you are welcome and encouraged to use them*

Searching the Site: From the homepage, select SEARCH THE PROCEEDINGS, then choose to search by Crime, Verdict and Punishment. Examine the possibilities under Crime Category or Specific Criminal Act by clicking on the explorer bar with each. Then put 1750 in the From month/year section and 1760 in the To month/year section. Finally, click the search icon. Multiple search results are displayed by headings listing the crime, defendant(s), date, and a brief description of the offence. Click on the headings you find interesting to read the original text in its entirety. If a search yields less than 10 results, or the accounts are very succinct, you will need to select an alternative type of crime.

The topic you will use to answer this question on will be about Rape.