In Colonial and post-revolutionary America, there were cases where minors were actually put to death for their crimes.
Well, in those days kids were given both a lot more freedom and a lot more responsibility at a very young age. Laura Ingalls Wilder went off to a differnt town to teach school at age 15. Many were married and raising families at age 15-16. So I’m not surprised that if they committed a crime that an adult would be punished for, they would receive the same punishment. I believe people didn’t make such a huge distinction in those days, in fact I don’t think they even used the term “teen”. You were either a child, of of the age of responsibility, not much in between.