Death Penalty In America

What is the definition of the death penalty? Well the definition varies from person to person but the most known phrase associated with the “Death Penalty” is Capital Punishment. It is the act of legally executing someone for doing wrong in society; such as the act of rape or even murder. Throughout time the death penalty has made a drastic impact on the United States. But when and how did the death penalty rise into the issue it is today? Throughout history the death penalty has been putting a mark on society, not only in the United States, but all around the world. But throughout time, the death penalty has been portrayed differently in different societies, and because of that, there has been drastic changes to how the death penalty is

It was because of these past societies that Britain had the death penalty and it was because of Britain that we have the death penalty here in America today. When the early European settlers came to the new world, these people brought the practice of capital punishment. The first person to have an actual recorded execution was a man named Captain George Kendall. It was 1608 in the Jamestown colony of Virginia. Kendall was thought to be a spy for spain at the time. This was until 1612, the governor of Virginia, Sir Thomas Dale, enacted the divine, moral and martial laws, which provided the death penalty for even minor crimes such as stealing, killing animals, and even just trading with the natives. Although, laws regarding the death penalty varied with the different colonies. After something called the “Abolitionist Movement” came to power, the movement was able to gain momentum in the northeast, causing many states to reduce the number of their capital crimes and build state penitentiaries. Finally in 1834, Pennsylvania became the first state to move their executions away from the public eye to secluded correctional facilities. it was twelve years later that Michigan became the first state to abolish the death penalty for all crimes except treason. Not long after that, Rhode Island and Wisconsin abolished the death penalty for all crimes. By the end of the Nineteenth, many south american countries would recognize this and follow with abolishing the death penalty such as Venezuela, Netherlands, Brazil, portugal, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. Although, even though some states followed others with the abolishment of the death penalty, most states held onto the practice of capital punishment. Out of the states who still had the death penalty, some, not all, of the states made more crimes punishable by capital punishment. Until 1838 when an effort to make the death penalty more open to the public, causing penitentiaries