Why Was Having a Hand Cut Off a Typical Punishment

question 84

Multiple Choice

Why was having a hand cut off a typical punishment for a pickpocket in colonial America?

• A) The hand is a part of the body that can usually be safely amputated without risk of infection.
• B) It was easy and convenient.
• C) It was considered symbolically appropriate to punish the part of the body most directly connected with the crime.
• D) It was considered the most painful punishment that could be administered.

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Definitions:

Good Faith Purchaser

An individual who buys property without knowledge of any existing claims, disputes, or encumbrances against it, thereby acquiring legal protection for their purchase under certain conditions.

Voidable Title

A legal situation where the transfer of title to property is valid until the original owner seeks to annul it due to certain conditions.

Post-Structuralist

An approach in various academic disciplines that emphasizes the idea that meaning is constructed, dynamic, and context-dependent, challenging the idea of fixed structures and universal truths.

Normal Body

Refers to societal perceptions and standards of what is considered physically healthy and typical, often excluding bodies that differ.