Since the dawn of civilization, humans have had an order to control the chaos created by others. When laws are broken by any individual, they have to be punished in some way. The death penalty is the sentence of execution for very serious crimes, such as murder, and other capital crimes. Stated by Amnesty International, China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the USA are the 5 biggest executioners with a percentage of 82% of the world’s execution rate. Since 2013, there has been an increase in death sentences in over 57 countries. Debates over capital punishments have existed for centuries. Each of these debates are solely focused on moral and philosophical concerns about the fate of other human beings. The inability of human beings to reach a consensus over capital punishment involving moral standing has left capital punishment to exist. But perhaps there is a way to punish criminals without taking their lives.
The very first death penalty laws date back to the Eighteenth Century B.C. In the seventh century BC, the Draconian Code of Athens established that death was a punishment for all crimes. Death sentences were given out as crucifixions, drowning, beaten, burning alive, impalement, and other horrible tortures. Moving on to the Tenth Century A.D., in Britain hanging was the most common method of execution. Under the reign of Henry VIII in the Sixteenth Century, an estimated 72,000 people were executed. The most common methods of execution during that time were boiling in a