The Philadelphia System was a penal system that put solitary prisoners into cells to contemplate their misdeeds and to plot a new life. The results of such solitary confinement included few reformations and numerous attempts at suicide. Pennsylvania built prisons at Pittsburgh (1862) and Philadelphia (1829). While the competing Auburn system

Auburn system

The Auburn system is a penal method of the 19th century in which persons worked during the day in groups and were kept in solitary confinement at night, with enforced silence at all times...

gained broader acceptance in the United States, with only New Jersey imitating the Philadelphia System, it spread elsewhere, and became a template for reform in Europe, Asia, and South America.