<P> Many eighteenth - century English philanthropists proposed solitary confinement as a way to rehabilitate inmates morally . Since at least 1740, philanthropic thinkers touted the use of penal solitude for two primary purposes: (1) to isolate prison inmates from the moral contagion of other prisoners, and (2) to jump - start their spiritual recovery . The philanthropists found solitude far superior to hard labor, which only reached the convict's worldly self, failing to get at the underlying spiritual causes of crime . In their conception of prison as a "penitentiary," or place of repentance for sin, the English philanthropists departed from Continental models and gave birth to a largely novel idea--according to social historians Michael Meranze and Michael Ignatieff--which in turn found its way into penal practice in the United States . </P> <P> A major political obstacle to implementing the philanthropists' solitary program in England was financial: Building individual cells for each prisoner cost more than the congregate housing arrangements typical of eighteenth - century English jails . But by the 1790s, local solitary confinement facilities for convicted criminals appeared in Gloucestershire and several other English counties . </P> <P> The philanthropists' focus on isolation and moral contamination became the foundation for early penitentiaries in the United States . Philadelphians of the period eagerly followed the reports of philanthropist reformer John Howard And the archetypical penitentiaries that emerged in the 1820s United States--e.g., Auburn and Eastern State penitentiaries--both implemented a solitary regime aimed at morally rehabilitating prisoners . The concept of inmate classification--or dividing prisoners according to their behavior, age, etc.--remains in use in United States prisons to this day . </P> <P> A third group involved in English penal reform were the "rationalists" or "utlitarians". According to historian Adam J. Hirsch, eighteenth - century rationalist criminology "rejected scripture in favor of human logic and reason as the only valid guide to constructing social institutions . </P>

The group that most influenced the beginnings of the american prison experience was the