Capital Punishment In The Colonial Era
During the late 1600s in Salem Village, Massachusetts, a strange hysteria took over the town as people began to be accused of witchcraft by a group of young girls. The girls started a paranoia that would eventually cause the execution of 19 “witches.” These witches were accused by the girls using spectral evidence, which are testimonies of dreams and visions. They were executed in public hangings between the years of 1692 and 1693. “The court later deemed the trials unlawful” because the type of evidence lead to the death of innocent people (“Salem Witch Trials,” 2001, para. 1-6). Public hangings are a form of punishment that became the most frequent form of capital punishment by the 10th century (Reggio, n.d., para. 4). The same way the Puritan
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The death penalty was greatly used for a wide variety of crimes, including “offenses such as striking one's mother or father, or denying the ’true God.’" Later, Thomas Jefferson introduced a bill for capital punishment to be only used for the crimes of murder and treason, but it was defeated by one vote. Abolitionist movements began during colonial times and gained large support to the point where states began to abolish the death penalty completely. “In 1846, Michigan became the first state to abolish the death penalty for all crimes except treason. Later, Rhode Island and Wisconsin abolished the death penalty for all crimes” (“Introduction to the Death Penalty,” n.d., para …show more content…
1). The other 19 states have completely abolished the death penalty. Most states who authorize the death penalty punish the crimes of murder or other capital offenses. Few states today authorize the death penalty for individuals who have committed the crime of sexual assault or rape. In these cases, there is a criteria differing from state to state to determine whether it should be applied or not (“Crimes Punishable by Death,” n.d., para. 1). From 1977 until 2014, 1,934 people were executed in the United States. Eighty-one percent of the total executions in the United States were held in the South, and 3 executions were authorized by the federal government: 2 in 2001 and 1 in 2003 (Snell, 2014, table). Since the 1700s, a total of about 15,746 executions have been held in the United States (Wilson, 2014, para.
The death penalty was greatly used for a wide variety of crimes, including “offenses such as striking one's mother or father, or denying the ’true God.’" Later, Thomas Jefferson introduced a bill for capital punishment to be only used for the crimes of murder and treason, but it was defeated by one vote. Abolitionist movements began during colonial times and gained large support to the point where states began to abolish the death penalty completely. “In 1846, Michigan became the first state to abolish the death penalty for all crimes except treason. Later, Rhode Island and Wisconsin abolished the death penalty for all crimes” (“Introduction to the Death Penalty,” n.d., para …show more content…
1). The other 19 states have completely abolished the death penalty. Most states who authorize the death penalty punish the crimes of murder or other capital offenses. Few states today authorize the death penalty for individuals who have committed the crime of sexual assault or rape. In these cases, there is a criteria differing from state to state to determine whether it should be applied or not (“Crimes Punishable by Death,” n.d., para. 1). From 1977 until 2014, 1,934 people were executed in the United States. Eighty-one percent of the total executions in the United States were held in the South, and 3 executions were authorized by the federal government: 2 in 2001 and 1 in 2003 (Snell, 2014, table). Since the 1700s, a total of about 15,746 executions have been held in the United States (Wilson, 2014, para.