Home > Crime and Punishment in America > Moral Offenses

Since the first European settlements in North America in the early seventeenth century, governments in America have tried to regulate morality. The early colonists equated sin with crime. Such offenses as blasphemy (showing a lack of reverence toward God), heresy (holding a belief that conflicts with church doctrine), and adultery (sex between two adults, one of whom is married to another) were considered criminal acts and dealt with by sometimes severe punishments.

Actions and behavior that do not conform...