During the Elizabethan Era, courts were commonly regarded as being of a corrupt nature. One member of Parliament defined a justice of the peace as ??an animal who, for half-a-dozen chickens, would dispense with a dozen laws.?? Criminal law was completely dependent upon deterrents, as opposed to surveillance or detection; laws were weak, but punishments were severe. was the statutory penalty for any of two hundred offenses. These offenses included blackmail, cutting down young trees, …showed first 75 words of 490 total…

…showed last 75 words of 490 total…his or her immediate environment and emancipating the individual, to some extent, from the pressures to conform to this year's vogues. He or she ceases to be a pawn of the social forces and their representatives.?? Therefore, only through correct observation of the past, and diligence in avoiding repeats of mistakes recorded in history, can civilization truly claim to be ?civilized.? Complete individualism and improved societal standards depend upon us, the current generation of youth.