Death Penalty Laws: Eighteenth Century

The Death Penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon. Death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. Hanging became the usual method of execution in Britain during the Tenth Century A.D.. During the reign of Henry VIII, as many as 72,000 people are estimated to have been executed. Boiling, burning at the stake, hanging, beheading, and drawing and quartering were the common methods during King Henry 's rule.

America’s decision to use the death penalty was influenced by Great Britain. The earliest settlers came to the new world and brought with them the practice of capital punishment. The first ever recorded execution

The electric chair was first introduced in New York. From 1907 to 1917, while six states outlawed the death penalty completely. Eventually, in 1924, the use of cyanide gas was introduced for a more humane way of executing criminals. There were more executions in the 1930s than in any other decade in American history. One of the most famous cases dealing with the death penalty in Furman v. Georgia. Furman v. Georgia case involved a 26 year old man, with a sixth-grade education, who broke into a home, while the homeowner was still awake, Furman tried to flee, but fell and when he hit the floor, the gun went off and killed the homeowner. The state of Georgia law explained that due to the fact that the murder took place in the midst of a robbery, Furman was eligible to be executed if the court found him guilty of the murder. Furman repealed the execution, saying that the nature of sentencing for capital punishment lacked solid definition and could vary from state to state. The jury deliberated for 90 minutes and found him guilty, sentencing him to

Personally I think having the death penalty is a good thing to have. The death penalty should be there for the worst of the worst criminals in America. We shouldn 't be afraid to use it on the worst criminals, most of the criminals on death row have murdered someone, or have done terrible things to someone or someone 's family and or friends. Yes, making sure its humane, quick, and painless is the right thing to do, but let’s be honest these criminals aren 't going to worry about being humane or quick, if they are killing or raping somebody. By executing them we take away the time they will have to spend in cells thinking about what they did. I can see where people think that these criminals need to think about what they have done, but they probably aren 't really going to change or care, they are getting food and a bed every night for free by being in prison. By executing the criminals on death row instead of putting them in prison for life could save so much money, time, and space in prisons and jails. Even though this is true, we need to be careful not to overuse the death penalty, when we are going to sentence somebody to death we need to be a 100% sure they did the crime, and if we can aren’t positive that the person committed the crime, then we should not use the