History of the Death Penalty

Many believe the death penalty has recently been discovered; although, it originated in the B.C. era. For example, the earliest forms of government had introduced the death penalty for those who had committed large offences. One researcher writes, “Death Penalty laws can be traced back as far as the 18th century B.C. when the Code of King Hammurabi established death as the penalty for 25 different crimes” (“Capital Punishment Timeline”). He claims the death penalty started before anyone would have thought; it had been used during the B.C. era. Hammurabi used this as the highest punishment for the most offensive crimes one could commit. Hammurabi had first developed the idea of an “eye for an eye,” meaning if one commits a horrific crime then the same horrific crime shall be done to him. Although it began in B.C. era, criminal punishment is still used today. Some of the most

penalty dates back to the eighteenth century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon.

First hanging execution to Kendall for being a spy for Spain. British law in 1610s routinely handed out the death sentence even for minor crimes like robbery, burglary.

In Hammaurabi’s code, death is the punishment for over 25 different crimes such as; “If anyone steal the property of a temple or of the court, he shall be put to death, and also the one who receives the stolen thing from him shall be put to death.” This is obviously a very harsh punishment, but at the time it was written it made sense. The Seventh century Draconian Code of Athens listed death as the only punishment for all crimes, which is made especially notorious due to the codes being said to have been written in blood as opposed to ink. Unfortunately, the exact code is unknown as it has been lost with time. In the Tenth century, hanging became the primary form of execution in Britain, to which until the mid-20th century it remained the primary form of execution in most of the world. However, William the Conqueror stopped all executions during his reign in England in the Eleventh century, with capital punishment only being used in cases of war, though some sources say that in cases of murder capital punishment was used.

Capital punishment was first introduced in the Seventh Century B.C. in the Draconian Law of Athens, which stated the death penalty was the only form of punishment for any and all crimes; death penalty laws were first established in the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Codes of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for twenty five different crimes. Capital punishment was carried out by means of: crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. Capital punishment was continued to be seen, spreading to countries such as Britain and in the United States.

The very first legal executions came in the United States was during the Revolutionary War against Great Britain. British soldiers hung the first person to die by the death penalty, Nathan Hale, for espionage (Foley 167). The reason that I have included this history is to prove that if something has been working, why stop

Over the next two centuries, more and more crimes began to be punishable by death. Stealing, cutting down a tree, and robbing a rabbit warren were only three of the total of 222 crimes. America’s death penalties were carried out in some of the same fashions, as they were heavily influenced by the British. In 1977, the preferred method of execution became lethal injection, with Oklahoma becoming the first state to adopt it.

The United States’ views on the death penalty were heavily influenced by Britain. Britain has had a lengthy history with implementing the death penalty. The first known legal execution in the United States was in the colony of Virginia (Reggie 1). Daniel Frank was executed for theft in 1622. Although this is the first recorded legal execution in Virginia, this was not the first execution in the United States.

The history over the use of capital punishment is indeed a complex yet interesting topic. Across the United States the most common option for employment of the death penalty in the past was the use of hanging. Executions used to be a public spectacle in which many individuals bared witness to such. After that public executions became a thing of the past and many states began to use gas chambers and the infamous electric chair as means of punishment. Several western states even used firing squads as means of execution.

The first legal execution in what is now the United States was performed by the American colonists in the year 1622 in Virginia when a criminal named Daniel Frank was put to death. Ever since, the United States has struggled with the issue of capital punishment. The death penalty was first written into law when the Massachusetts Bay Colony listed 13 crimes as punishable by death,

The Death Penalty was established “far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes” (“History”). It was also apart of the “Fourteen Century B.C.’s Hittite Code, in the Seventh Century B.C.’s Draconian Code of Athens, which made death the only punishment for all crimes; and in the Fifth Century B.C.’s Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets” (“History”). The Death Penalty was carried out if it was drowning, crucifixion, burning while being alive, impalement, and beating to death. As the time went on by the Eighteen Century A.D. a man named William the Conqueror would not allow people to be hung unless it was a murder case. As the years carried on in 1608 Caption George Kendall was the first man who got executed while being record in his colony. Jane Champion was the first woman who got executed in her colony in 1632. The Death Penalty all started and it did minimize crimes stated in the early 1800.

Death penalty dates back to the 1700's B.C. The first document to contain laws on the death penalty was known as the Code of Hammurabi. This document was written in ancient Babylon which is now modern day Iraq and consisted over 250 laws. These laws mentioned twenty five crimes which were deemed punishable by death and committing a murder was not a part of it.

The death penalty was established in the Eighteenth century, when Captain George Kendall became the first person to be executed in 1608. The death penalty dated back to when King Hammurabi existed as stated here. http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org stated, “The first established

The earliest historical record of the death penalty otherwise known as capital punishment goes back as far as the eighteenth century B.C., when the code of King Hammurabi of Babylon listed 25 crimes which were punishable by death. Since then, the uses of the death penalty have prevailed throughout the ages in laws and justice systems of different civilizations. For instance, the Draconian Code of Athens punishes all crimes with the death penalty. During those times, the death penalty involved suffering a gruesome death such as being burnt alive, impaling, crucifixion and stoning (Death Penalty Information Center, 2011).

The death penalty has been around for centuries. The first death penalty law dates back all the way to the eighteenth century under king Hammurabi of Babylon’s rule. The death penalty was the main solution to any crime during the 5th, 7th, 10th, 14th, and 18th century. Under Roman law executions were carried out by means of crucifixion, drowning, burning people alive,