Eastern State Penitentiary: The Role Of Knowledge In Prisons

The Eastern State Penitentiary was built in 1829, to imprison and punish criminals in America. Knowledge isn’t something you can easily define or explain. “Knowledge is to gain facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.”(Oxford) Knowledge doesn’t have one correct way of explaining because the way humans interpret knowledge changes from a person’s experiences. Knowledge is what causes us to understand the world. Knowledge isn’t what differentiates people but it’s the way people interpret their knowledge. Through the use of Religious Knowledge Systems and Art we are able to see how shared knowledge and personal knowledge affected the prisoners in
Art is what differentiates people from one another. Art can be used in many different areas. When Art is used it requires a lot of emotion because many artists draw what they feel or what they think. The Eastern State Penitentiary required a lot of artistic knowledge and skill. Art was required when assembling the building and when organizing the prison cell. When the Penitentiary was opened it was seen as a technological wonder. It was the first time that a prison had good air conditioning, sewage, and shower systems. Art is what helped architect the prison in a way that everything works smoothly. When using great artistic skills you can succeed in anything, because when you plan before you do there is nothing that could go wrong. Having used this artistic skill, some technologies in the prison was not even “available in the white house for the previous Presidents.”
Religion has a big impact on every human especially with the way they think and the way they see life. Religion all depends on the person. Some people depend on their religion a lot more than others. Some people believe religion is the answer to all their suffering. In the Eastern State Penitentiary, religion had a significant impact on prisoners. It helped Prisoners find their true hearts and to help strengthen prisoners personal connection with god. Religion helped these prisoners produce religious knowledge and insight into their personal lives. The purpose of religion in the penitentiary was to make prisoners truly regret there wrongful actions and to ask god to forgive them. The prison cell was designed in a way that the only light coming into the cell was provided by god. This sent a message to the prisoners that all miracles and blessings come from