Dedham in the 1630s.in Massachusetts. use web resorce - Essay Example

Dedham in the 1630s in Massachusetts al Affiliation) In colonial America stocks were tools that were used to punish an individual. The victims could be humiliated in public through torture. When a person committed a minor offence in Massachusetts, stocks were used to publicly humiliate the individual. For instance, when a drunken person was found roaming around the city, they would be required to wear a barrel. The person would be taken around the city so that people would make fun of them. The procedure for sentencing involved the arrest of an individual who had committed a crime.

A trial was then held and if found guilty, a sentencing would be done. The Puritan communities participated through availing themselves in gatherings that marked the day of public shame. They participated in religious exercises that were conducted using the laws of the Sabbath. People in the communities also participated through dances, which were meant to condemn the law breakers. They made fun of the regressors and spat on them. As a transgressor, I would feel inflexible and uncomfortable due to the stillness.

My physical motion of movement would be interfered with, which would make me sweaty and nervous. I would feel emotionally humiliated and that my dignity would be robed off me. Although I committed a crime, I would not find it fair to be embarrassed in public and would want to hide my face. My thoughts would be in line with the urge to cause a fight and declare my rights. They would also be in relation the kind of people existing in the society and their hostile nature. For instance, I once was forced to wear a stinking bone over my neck due to failure in accomplishing my assignments.

Such a punishment would not have any control of my future behaviour because taking assignments should be more of a personal decision. ReferencePuritan Life. (n.d.). ushistory.org. Retrieved September 16, 2014, from http://www.ushistory.org/us/3d.asp