Penal colony is a settlement outside a country, or in an isolated location within it, where the country sends its prisoners. From the 1500’s to the mid-1900’s, many European nations operated penal colonies to help relieve overcrowded prisons and to remove convicts to faraway places. Countries sometimes used the prisoners as laborers to develop the natural resources of a colony.
Britain sent many prisoners to the American Colonies in spite of the objections of colonists there. The Revolutionary War (1775-1783) ended penal colonies in America. The British then shipped criminals to Australia. These prisoners were the first white people to settle in Australia (see Transportation of convicts).
A well-known French penal colony was on Devils Island (also spelled Devil’s Island) in French Guiana. This colony was started by Napoleon III in 1852. In 1945, the prisoners were transferred or liberated.
In the past, penal colonies were known for their brutal treatment of prisoners. The prisoners were often chained together and whipped. Today conditions have improved, but most of the remaining penal colonies are still places of harsh punishment.
