Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Penal colony
(1,848 words)

1. Origins and early development

The use of banishment as a penal sanction (Punishment) has a diverse history and dates back to ancient times. It acquired a new rationale in the early modern period, however, when it became linked to global expansion and the formation of new states and colonial empires. Among the first signs of this development was the redeployment of crimin…

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Reid, Kirsty, “Penal colony”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 07 December 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_028330>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20200721



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