Why did the Auburn system require prisoners to remain silent while working together?

The Auburn system required prisoners to remain silent while working together because administrators believed that criminal habits were learned from and reinforced by other inmates. By enforcing absolute silence, the system aimed to prevent prisoners from corrupting one another through communication.123

This approach was rooted in the belief that contact between convicts should be strictly prohibited to minimize their negative influence on each other. While the Auburn system allowed for congregate labor during the day—unlike the competing Pennsylvania system, which relied on total solitary confinement—the enforced silence was considered essential to maintain discipline and ensure that the prison environment remained a place for personal reform rather than a site of social contagion.312