Why Did The United States Use The Electric Chair?

The Electric Chair was a form of cruel and unusual punishment. It was once the most used method of execution in the United States. In the early twentieth century is when the electric chair started to be used. It replaced hanging, firing squad, and beheading in that period of time (Juan). Some states are still using the Electric Chair, but we do not hear much about it. Dr. Albert Southwick, a dentists, was the one who invented the Electric Chair in 1881. Edwin R. Davis was commissioned to design a electric chair. His chair was fitted with two electrodes; they were composed of metal disks that were held together with rubber and covered with a damp sponge (“Electric Chair”). Brown was another person to design a Electric Chair. He went through everything he
There were times where things had gone wrong. When things did go wrong it was absolutely dramatic. At least five have went wrong since 1983. For example, Pedro Medina’s execution. Witnesses saw a blue and orange flame shoot six to ten inches out of his helmet and it had burned for ten seconds. Prison officials blamed it on the flared up on a corrode brass used in the helmet. The first high voltage shock is to destroy the brain. The person being executed is thought to be unconscious in 1/240 of a second. Being electrocuted causes full paralysim. The temperature in the body can raise up to about 138F. The second shock is to ensure the heart beat. The heat destroys the body’s proteins and bakes the organs. (“The Electric Chair”). The prisoner must have her or his head and one calf of a leg shaved, which permits better contact between the skin and the electrodes. At least two jolts of electrical current has to be applied for several minutes. Two thousands volts stops the heart beat and endures unconsciousness. Protocol calls for a jolt of 2,450 volts that will last for

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