Transportation Act 1717

The Transportation Act 1717 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain (4 Geo. I cap. XI) long title An Act for the further preventing Robbery, Burglary, and other Felonies, and for the more effectual Transportation of Felons, and unlawful Exporters of Wool; and for declaring the Law upon some Points relating to Pirates.) that established a seven-year convict bond service in the form of penal transportation to North America as a possible punishment for those convicted of lesser felonies. For more serious crimes, a fourteen-years of convict bond service was meted out as a possible sentence in lieu of capital punishment, and gained through commutation of sentence via royal pardon. An estimated 50,000 convicts (women, men and children) were transported to the British American colonies.