Corporal punishment and the death penalty were almost the only forms of criminal punishment widely practiced by religious and secular authorities in early modern Europe and America. The chapter examines theories and movements toward reform, including confinement as a means of punishment and a way to rehabilitate the criminal. It also discusses the importance of national and even regional differences in the historical perception of the prison system; the importance of workhouses as instruments for maintaining discipline among formerly docile laborers and not primarily for the control of criminals; and other explanations for the emergence of the prison system involving pragmatic approaches. The chapter concludes that prison history is incomprehensible without considering the intellectual history of penology; prison history is comparative and international in nature. However, it is insufficient to state similarities in theory and practice. Specific differences must be emphasized if comparative history is to make sense. Notes