AFJ Voices | The True History of Mass Incarceration in America - Part 1

1619 – 1829

As part of our Justice in Action initiative, Avenues for Justice (AFJ) will focus on: The True History of Mass Incarceration in America. We do so during a significant moment in our nation's history. As we close out June, communities across the country have been commemorating Juneteenth, marking the end of slavery in the United States, and in just days, the country will begin celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

We recognize that the promises outlined in the Declaration of Independence in 1776 were not extended to everyone. While the nation declared that all people were created equal, thousands of African Americans remained enslaved, Indigenous communities continued to face displacement and violence, and many others were denied basic rights and protections under the law.

Two hundred and fifty years later, the consequences of those exclusions continue to shape American life.

As our nation reflects on 250 years of history, it is important to recognize that the story of America includes more than the milestones we celebrate. It also includes the systems, policies, and institutions that have shaped who has had access to freedom, opportunity, and justice and who has not.

To understand why the United States incarcerates more people than almost any other nation in the world, we must understand the systems that came before prisons.

In the early 1700s, colonies in the American South created slave patrols that were organized groups of white men authorized to stop, search, monitor, and punish enslaved Black people. Their purpose was to control movement, prevent resistance, and protect a system built on human bondage. These patrols became one of the earliest forms of organized law enforcement in America.

As the country grew, laws continued to define who belonged, who had rights, and who could be controlled. Black people, whether enslaved or free, faced increasing restrictions on where they could live, work, travel, and participate in society.

Then, in 1829, a new institution opened in Philadelphia: Eastern State Penitentiary. Often described as America's first modern prison, it introduced a practice that would become one of the most controversial forms of punishment in history, which is solitary confinement.

The idea was that people would spend nearly all their time alone in small cells with little human contact. Supporters believed isolation would encourage reflection and rehabilitation. Instead, many people experienced severe psychological suffering. Even in its earliest years, critics questioned whether prolonged isolation was causing lasting harm.

While prisons were presented as a new approach to punishment, they emerged in a society already shaped by generations of racial hierarchy, violence, and control. The systems changed, but many of the underlying assumptions about who was considered dangerous, disposable, or deserving of punishment remained.

Over time, these ideas evolved through Black Codes, convict leasing, Jim Crow laws, aggressive policing practices, mandatory minimum sentencing, the War on Drugs, and policies that disproportionately impacted Black and Brown communities.

Mass incarceration was built over centuries through laws, policies, and institutions that expanded surveillance, punishment, and confinement while often ignoring the conditions that contribute to harm in the first place.

At Avenues for Justice, we work with young people every day whose lives are shaped by these systems. Understanding the history of incarceration is not about dwelling on the past. It is about recognizing how the past continues to shape the present.

Because if we want to build a different future, we first have to understand how we got here.