The History of Captal Punishment in the US

Capital punishment began in Jamestown, Virginia, in the New World. In the year 1608, Great Britain imposed the death penalty for 200 different crimes. This information was passed on to the colonies of the New World, who would use these methods for year's to come. Captain George Kendall was the first person to receive this punishment, he was shot for being a Spanish spy.

Michigan is one state that has not been practicing the death penalty since it was abolished for all crimes, other than treason, in 1846. Since the execution of Kendall in 1608 up until 1991, there have been an estimated further 15,269 deaths by capital punishment in the US. The numbers decrease as the years go by, and between 1930 and 2002 there were 4,461, with the majority of those deaths being within the first twenty years.

The largest mass execution in the United States was that of 38 people from Dakota. They were hung simultaneously after being convicted of murder and rape during the Dakota War of 1862. A special four sided platform had been built for the occasion, and a single axe blow on the rope sent the prisoners to their death. One man had to be re-hung as his rope had broken.

During 1972 through to 1976 the death penalty was suspended by the Supreme Court. They found in some cases the death penalty had been unconstitutional, and on the grounds of cruel and unusual punishment, it was also in violation of the 8th amendment. After certain cases were looked at closely, there was a decision made by the court to have further rules that would be followed during the trials of criminals.

In the first proceedings of a potential death penalty decision, the jury would decide on the persons guilt. If the person is innocent, or has not committed first degree murder, then the death penalty would not have been imposed. The second hearing would determine if there had been any mitigating circumstances when the crime was carried out. The jury would then make a decision between the death penalty and life imprisonment, with or without parole.

Gary Gilmore was the first person to be sentenced to death when the death penalty was reinstated, in 1977. He was put before a firing squad in Utah, for murdering two people. While hanging was the most common form of capital punishment, there have also been other methods used throughout the history of the death penalty. These include, bludgeoning, burning, and pressing, which have all been used in the past. There was also the introduction of the lethal injection, most commonly used today, the electric chair, and the gas chamber.

The last burning took place in South Carolina, in the year 1825. Decapitation was a legal method of the death penalty in Utah during the first part of the 19th Century, but it was never imposed. The gas chamber was last used in 1999, in Arizona, while the last hanging was in Delaware, in 1996. Some of these methods are no longer legal, but others are still legal, such as hanging. This method is still legal in New Hampshire, where the corrections officials make the decision as to whether the criminal should be hanged, and Washington State with the defendant making the choice.

The methods and crimes meriting the death penalty vary depending on the jurisdiction of the state. Capital punishment has always been a controversial subject. Some people think that it deters people from crime, others think that it doesn't make a difference. Whatever the case it is still a method used in the US today, and will probably remain so for some year's to come.

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