history of the death penalty

By danni3468
  • Jan 1, 1508

    The Code of King Hammurabi

    The death sentence was part of ancient law from as far back as the Hittite and Draconian codes dating back to the fourteenth century B.C. Crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement were all used as methods of execution. The Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon regulated the death sentence for 25 separate offenses, which is one of the oldest codes in the world. (https://deathpenaltyinfo.org)
  • 1525

    The burning of Jakob Rohrbach, a leader of the peasants during the German Peasants' War

    Stoning, toppling a wall on the offender or burning him alive are some of the reported punishments for sodomy by early Islamic caliphs. One sodomite is said to have been thrown head-first from the top of the town's tallest building; according to Ibn Abbas, the latter punishment must be followed by stoning. The death sentence was also used to punish sexual offenses like sodomy. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment)

  • First recorded execution in america

    More than any other country, Britain impacted America's usage of the death sentence. Captain George Kendall was the first person to be executed in the new colonies, at the Virginia colony of Jamestown, in 1608. The Divine, Moral, and Martial Laws, adopted by Virginia Governor Sir Thomas Dale in 1612, called for the death penalty for even minor acts such as stealing grapes and murdering poultry. (https://deathpenaltyinfo.org)

  • The Salem witch trials

    The Salem witch trials began in 1692 after a group of young girls claimed they were possessed by the devil. A special court was created in Salem, Massachusetts, to hear the cases as panic swept throughout colonial Massachusetts. The first convicted witch, Bridget Bishop, was hung that June; 18 men, women, and children were accused during the next several months. (https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/salem-witch-trials)

  • The U.S.A passes the death penalty

    On this date, the United States Congress passed the death penalty. The Crimes Against Humanity Act was also passed. This was a list of federal offenses and the penalties associated with them. Treason, murder, and robbery, to name a few, were some of the crimes committed.(death penalty-procon.org)

  • The first federal execution

    On June 25, 1790, U.S. Marshal Henry Dearborn of Maine carried out the first documented federal execution with this power. He was given the command to put one Thomas Bird to death for murder on the high seas. Dearborn spent money on a gallows and a coffin in order to coordinate this. As the number of death sentences issued by the US Marshals increased, a few districts turned to more permanent equipment. (https://www.usmarshals.gov/history/executions.htm)

  • The first uses of the guillotine

    On April 25, 1792, highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier was executed by guillotine in front of what is now the city hall of Paris (Place de l'Hôtel de Ville). From then on, all citizens sentenced to death were executed there, until the scaffold was transferred to the Place du Carrousel on August 21. These executions are done because of radicalism or abuse of power during the french revolution. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment)

  • First states to abolish the death penalty and first state to allow non pubic executions

    Many jurisdictions lowered the number of capital offences and created state penitentiaries in the early twentieth century. Pennsylvania was the first state to relocate executions out of the public sight and into penal institutions, beginning in 1834. Except for treason, Michigan was the first state to abolish the death sentence in 1846. Later, the death penalty was abolished in Rhode Island and Wisconsin for all offenses. (https://deathpenaltyinfo.org)

  • First electric chair execution

    William Kemmler was the first person to be sentenced to the electric chair in the United States. A charge of around 700 volts was given for 17 seconds after he was strapped in. The second charge was 1,030 volts for two minutes, after which smoke could be seen pouring from his skull.(https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-execution-by-electric-chair)

  • The development of Lethal injections

    Charles Brooks, Jr. was given an intravenous injection of sodium pentathol, a barbiturate known as a "truth serum" when given in small amounts. The lethal injection process involves three different poisons delivered into the circulation sequentially after several years of testing. The first medication knocks the prisoner out, the second paralyzes the diaphragm and lungs, and the third induces cardiac arrest. (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-execution-by-lethal-injection)