A convict is "a person found
guilty
Guilty or The Guilty may refer to:
* Guilt (emotion), an experience that occurs when a person believes they have violated a moral standard
Law
*Culpability, the degree to which an agent can be held responsible for action or inaction
*Guilt (law) ...
of a
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...
and
sentenced by a
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...
" or "a person serving a sentence in
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
". Convicts are often also known as "
prisoner
A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison.
...
s" or "inmates" or by the
slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...
term "con", while a common
label
A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...
for former convicts, especially those recently released from prison, is "ex-con" ("ex-convict"). Persons convicted and sentenced to
non-custodial sentence Community sentence or alternative sentencing or non-custodial sentence is a collective name in criminal justice for all the different ways in which courts can punish a Defendant#Criminal defendants, defendant who has been convicted of committing an ...
s tend not to be described as "convicts".
The label of "ex-convict" usually has lifelong implications, such as
social stigma
Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, rac ...
or reduced opportunities for employment. The
federal government of Australia
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...
, for instance, will not, in general, employ an ex-convict, while some
state and territory governments may limit the time for or before which a former convict may be employed.
Historical usage
![Prisoners and gendarms on the road to Siberia (Geoffroy, 1845)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Prisoners_and_gendarms_on_the_road_to_Siberia_%28Geoffroy%2C_1845%29.JPG)
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
gaol
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...
s in the 18th and early 19th century. Their crimes would today be regarded as petty misdemeanors (stealing small items or food), or are no longer in the criminal code (
such as being in unresolved debt). Most of the punishments at this time were severe, with the death penalty (hanging) applied for fairly minor crimes. However, this ultimate sentence was often commuted to a lesser one, commonly for transportation (for 7 or 14 years, or for life) to the colonies. Thus, in the British context, the term "convict" has come to refer in particular to those criminals transported overseas.
Initially many British convicts were sent to the American colonies, such as
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, and
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, 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
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
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
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
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
mythology
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
and
historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
. Many became prominent businesspeople and respected citizens, and some prominent families in present-day Australian society can trace their origins to convict ancestors who rose above their humble origins. However, during the transportation era and for many years after, previous convicts and their descendants tended to hide their former criminal background, sometimes resulting in distorted or completely missing family history. Extensive and comprehensive records kept on every individual are now able to fill in the gaps; and, in fact, many family historians can find out more about their convict ancestors than they can about those who arrived in Australia as free settlers.
British convicts were also sent to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
,
and
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
also sent convicts to
New Caledonia
)
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, image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of New Caledonia
, map_caption = Location of New Caledonia
, mapsize = 290px
, subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
and to
Devil's Island
The penal colony of Cayenne ( French: ''Bagne de Cayenne''), commonly known as Devil's Island (''Île du Diable''), was a French penal colony that operated for 100 years, from 1852 to 1952, and officially closed in 1953 in the Salvation Islands ...
in
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...
.
See also
*
Convicted felon
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...
*
Convict lease
Convict leasing was a system of forced penal labor which was practiced historically in the Southern United States, the laborers being mainly African-American men; it was ended during the 20th century. (Convict labor in general continues; f ...
*
Convict assignment
Convict assignment was the practice used in many penal colonies of assigning convicts to work for private individuals. Contemporary abolitionists characterised the practice as virtual slavery, and some, but by no means all, latter-day historians ...
*
Convicts in Australia
Between 1788 and 1868, about 162,000 Penal transportation, convicts were transported from Great Britain, Britain and Ireland to various list of Australian penal colonies, penal colonies in Australia.
The British Government began transporting c ...
*
Older prisoners
The term older prisoners is used by the U.S. Department of Justice and/or state departments for corrections when referring to individuals that are 50 years of age and older. Conventionally, individuals are not usually classified as having reached ...
*
Penal transportation
Penal transportation or transportation was the relocation of convicted criminals, or other persons regarded as undesirable, to a distant place, often a colony, for a specified term; later, specifically established penal colonies became their ...
Notes
External links
{{Wiktionarypar, convict
Convict life - State Library of NSWConvict Transportation Registers database
Criminals by status
Prisoners and detainees
Forced migration
fr:Prisonnier