when was the first prison in america built
History of United States prison systems Prisoners and prisons appeared in North America simultaneous to the arrival of European settlers. Among the ninety or so men who sailed with the explorer known as Christopher Columbus were a young black man abducted from the Canary Islands and at least four convicts.[27] By 1570, Spanish soldiers in St. Augustine, Florida, had built the first substantial prison in North America.[28] As other European nations began to compete with Spain for land and wealth in the New World, they too turned to convicts to fill out the crews on their ships.[28]