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Excerpt from American Notes

Reprinted from Charles Dickens: American Notes for General Circulation, edited by Patricia Ingham

Originally published in 1842; excerpt taken from 2000 reprint

With the U.S. Constitution protecting American citizens from cruel and unusual punishment, a search for more humane forms of punishment began in the late 1800s. The idea of incarceration had been in use since the late 1700s, but by the early 1800s two different types of prison systems were being tried in the United States. One was known as the "Philadelphia" plan and the other, the "Auburn" plan. They were named after the cities where two new state prisons were located—in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Auburn, New York.