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First Recorded Execution in New America
This execution occurred in Virginia in the Jamestown colony in 1608. Captain George Kendall was charged with treason. Since treason was a capital crime in colonial America, he was hung for his crime. This lays out a foundation for the death penalty that we know of today. -
Establishment of Federal Death Penalty
The Punishment of Crimes Act was adopted on April 30th, 1790. This act listed federal crimes and their corresponding punishments. This states that death is a proper punishment for crimes like treason, counterfeiting, murder, and robbery. This is important because it set the precedence for using the death penalty to punish criminals. -
First Federal Execution
Thomas Bird became the first person to be given the death penalty under the United States government. He was hanged for murder in Maine on June 25, 1790. The U.S. Marshall Henry Dearborn set up the hanging of Thomas Bird. This confirms the support of the death penalty as a punishment to suitable criminals via the U.S. government. -
Michigan Becomes First US State to Abolish Capital Punishment
The death penalty in the state of Michigan was replaced with life in prison instead. This made Michigan the first English-speaking government in the world to abolish capital punishment for all crimes (except for treason). Since no one has been given the penalty for treason, Michigan has never given out the death penalty since this day. This is important because it can impact other states into changing their capital punishment policies. -
First Electric Chair Execution
New York performed the first execution via the electric chair with help from Thomas Edison's engineers. William Kemmler was a condemned murder and was killed with two surges of electricity. After this, people believed that this was the most humane way to execute someone. This lead to this method to become the most common way people were killed for capital punishment. Now is the most though off way someone would be put to death from criminal activity. -
Peak of Executions
In the 1930s in the United States, there was on average of 167 executions per year. This can be related to the start of the Great Depression and Prohibition in the United States. Writings of criminologist that argued that its was a necessary social measure are likely the reason for this increase. From this time on, the amount of people sentenced to death decreased. -
Last Public Execution
The public hanging of Rainey Bethea was the last of its kind in the United States. 20,000 people witnessed this hanging because it was also the first executions to be conducted by a women. This is seen to be the reason for the ban on public executions in America because it was the last of its time. -
Furman v. Georgia
The fourteenth amendment was the main issue in this Supreme Court case. It was ruled that the death penalty was unconditional in the case that its was disproportionately harming minorities and the poor. This basically placed the penalty on hold to ensure it was not applied in a discriminatory way. This decision overturn over 600 death sentences. This case was now the guideline for death penalty sentences. -
Study Finds Defendants Wrongly Given the Death Penalty
Hugo Bedau and Michael Radelet published a study in Stanford Law Review that told the public about 350 cases that the defendant was found innocent. In these cases, they were wrongfully killed and convicted because they were later found to be innocent with DNA evidence. This placed some doubts in the American public that the death penalty was the correct way to deal with criminals accused of a crime. -
Majority of Americans are now in favor of life in prison over the death penality
It is found that a majority of Americans are now in favor of criminals getting life in prison instead of getting the death penalty at this time. Before this, a majority were for the penalty, or had no opinion on it. With this survey, 60% of the American said that life in prison was a better punishment. Before this, there was a more divided view on the practice, but now we are seeing more dislike for the death penalty. -
Virginia First Southern State to Abolish the Death Penalty.
On March 24, 2021 the governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam, signed a law to get rid of the death penalty. This made Virginia the first southern state to abolish the death penalty. This is noteworthy because before this Virginia had carried out the most executions out of all of the United States every since the countries first in Jamestown.