The Death Of Death Penalty

Though it may seem that the debate over the death penalty only most recently surfaced, the dreadful tradition of capital punishment arrived in the United States at the time of the colonists. In the 17th century, most people were hung, beheaded, burned alive, or crushed under stones. All of these were in public, where a large crowd gathered to watch the horrible sight, similar to the tradition in old Europe. Eventually, the 19th century favored hanging as the most common form of execution. This marked the start of a more humane approach accepted as constitutional as executions moved away from the public eye. More developments came in the 1800’s as a movement to abolish capital punishment arose. This effort was stalled for a time during the Civil

Mary Eugenia Surratt was the first women who was put to death by the federal government. Her son, who was believed to also be involved with the plot, was tried in 1867. He was not released from prison until June, 1868. The hanging of his mother has been considered as a gross miscarriage of justice. Her prosecution never established that she knew anything about the plot and that she was not even part of the assassination plans. (De Witt, Campbell,

The Americans might feel that death penalty is a good choice for a murder; however, most of the public knows very little about the process of the capital punishment. In the past it was “the darkest part of the American history- slavery, lynching, racial oppression, and perfunctory capital trials known as “legal lynching’s” (Waller, 2011, p. 262.” It was considered darkest history because most these cases people were innocent. The death penalty was carried based on a person 's color. It is of course not all related race in America another reason is to with bring a closure to the family of the victim.

The history from capital punishment starts back to colonial time’s .During the colonial times more than 15,000 people have been executed in the United States. The Capital punishment was first introduce early as biblical times for absolute assurance that a criminal 's life would end. The followers of Christianity and Judaism claimed to find justification for capital punishment in the Bible. According to the facts, in 1608, the first execution in the thirteen centuries was Captain George Kendall, he was executed for spying for the Spanish. In 1632 Jane Champion was the first women to be executed for unknown reasons .Surprisingly, Texas is the state that has a used capital punishment the most since 1976. In 1930 the executions average 167 per year, which was the highest in American history.

Furthermore, in the 1830s and 1840s capital punishment was targeted nationwide (Henderson, 9). The movement against the death penalty sought to “halt public executions” (Henderson, 9). Public executions at the time were widely attended and seen as a form of entertainment (Henderson, 9). The most popular form of execution at this time (and still today in some countries) was hanging (Beliveau, 202). Although this type of execution was common when carrying out the death sentence, it was not always the most humane. Beliveau claims that “contrary to what is often believed, in the majority of cases it is not the blocking of air entering the lungs that causes death” (202). In addition, the most common types of hanging were short-drop hanging and long-drop hanging (Beliveau, 203-4). Short-drop hanging was the more common of the two and had similar effects to dying by strangulation whereas long-drop hanging was created with the intent of executing someone in a more humane way (Beliveau, 203-4). Other methods of capital punishment include decapitation, lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, firing squad (Denver et al).

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.

The death penalty is one of the most controversial issues on American soil. Blacks are more likely to face the death penalty than whites in the commission of identical crimes(CNN, 2014). The history of capital punishment dates back to the days before Christ. The Old Testament adage 'an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,' has survived throughout the ages despite the New Testament's rendition of 'thou shall not kill'. Today's American victims endure a more demure of style of cruel and unusual punishment; death by lethal injection has replaced the barbaric traditions of the past.

In the early days of July 1865 history was made as Mary Surratt scaled the gallows at the Fort Worth Penitentiary (Kingseed). She was the first woman to be hung by the United States Federal Government (Blakemore). Mary Surratt was executed unjustly by the U.S. Government. Toward the end of her trial she asked for a reduced sentence, being jailed for life, and this was the best option. She lied many times at first, but she proved to be trustful toward the end; but she also was associated with John Wilkes Booth, the murderer of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

Lethal injection was first adopted in 1977 in the state of Oklahoma and was first administrated in the state of Texas in 1982 (Crider, 2014). Before lethal injection methods like hanging, gas chamber, firing squad, and electric chair were used to execute. The United States has tried to find an alternate method that will not be considered inhumane and painful to the inmate. The effect of lethal injection is now being questioned if it is constitutional, arises medical professionals controversy, and the shortage of drug substance.

The death penalty has been around since the time of Jesus Christ. Executions have been recorded from the 1600s to present times. From about 1620, the executions by year increased in the US. It has been a steady increase up until the 1930s; later the death penalty dropped to zero in the 1970s and then again rose steadily. US citizens said that the death penalty was unconstitutional because it was believed that it was "cruel and unusual" punishment (Kurtis 67). In the 1970s, the executions by year dropped between zero and one then started to rise again in the 1980s. In the year 2000, there were nearly one hundred executions in the US (Biskupic 34). On June 29, 1972, the death penalty was suspended because the existing laws were no longer convincing. However, four years after this occurred, several cases came about in Georgia, Florida, and Texas where lawyers wanted the death penalty. This set new laws in these states and later the Supreme Court decided that the death penalty was constitutional under the Eighth Amendment (Biskupic 34).

Also “offenders aged fifteen and younger at the time of their crimes was unconstitutional” (“introduction to the death penalty”). This shows that there are many factors that prevent a person from getting the death penalty and these limitations protects them from it. In recent years, “the United States numbers of death sentences are steadily declining from 300 in 1998 to 106 in 2009” (“introduction to the death penalty”). This shows that the usage of the death penalty is declining and many people are not being punished with the death penalty. This also shows that the death penalty is still being used in certain crimes in the United States. This is showing that the death penalty might not be used as much in the future.

The United States adopted the capital punishment from England for more than three centuries ago. Not only had the punishment been adopted but also the methods of execution. Throughout centuries, the people of the United States became more aware of how the criminal justice system functions and varies from one state to another. Some states used to execute people who commit minor offenses, such as stealing fruits. Maybe people would disagree with me, but I believe that the death penalty helped in preventing criminals from committing certain capital crimes. Even though the U.S. Supreme Court abolished the death penalty for mentally handicapped and juvenile, the amount of executions seems hard to be stabilized.

execution and many now await execution on death row. In the conclusion of the case of

At the end of 2001, 37 prison systems had 3, 581 prisoners on death row. Fifty one of them were women. Between 1977 an 2001, 11% of the prisoners on death row were executed. (Capital Punishment 2001) But we must remember the death penalty is irrevocable. A prisoner discovered to be blameless can be freed; but neither release nor compensation is possible for a corpse.

Since the year 1976 there have been a total of 1,433 executions in the United States, most of them being carried out in the South. In the early 1600s in America the death penalty was in place to deter crime and act as the most severe punishment possible for atrocious crimes, such as murder or treason. Capital punishment is still in use today as a way of counteracting violent crimes as well as providing the families of the victims with justice. However there was once a moment in America’s history that could have ended the usage of the death penalty.