High levels of imprisonment have been common in history. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the UK operated a system of severely punitive punishment laws designed to provide cheap labour for its colonies, notably America. People were apprehended on suspicion alone and shipped off to the colonies, with the blessing of a magistrate, where they were resold as labourers to the highest bidder. A prison crisis in the UK was even created at the time of the American revolution when such shipments were disrupted.