this is the harshest penalty allowed by
the courts welcome to watchmojo.com and
today we’re taking a look at the history
of capital punishment in the United
States the idea of killing as a form of
retribution for one’s crimes dates back
centuries but was imported to America by
British settlers during the colonial era
it officially began early in the 17th
century when crimes like stealing
vegetables trading with Indians or
rejecting the idea of one God were
considered capital crimes in one point
hanging was the preferred method of
execution however more horrific means
like burning beating and breaking on a
wheel were also used though infrequently
movements against capital punishment
began early and were supported by
important figures of the day in 1777
founding father Thomas Jefferson
unsuccessfully tried to amend Virginia
laws regarding the death penalty to make
only murder and treason capital crimes
however in 1790 the u.s. Bill of Rights
and its 8th amendment saw that no cruel
or unusual punishment would be inflicted
on United States citizens when the
abolition movement gained steam in the
early 19th century states began
performing executions in prisons as
opposed to publicly as was once the
custom however the United States last
public execution was in 1936 in 1846
Michigan became the first state to
eliminate the death penalty for all
crimes except treason other states soon
did the same in the early 1860s the
Civil War derailed abolitionists but
once the war ended technological
advancements eased its use for example
the electric chair was first used to
carry out a death sentence in 1890 this
method was considered more humane than
hanging and was quickly adopted by New
York and a few other states in the early
20th century the belief that capital
punishment was unjust became more
widespread
when research suggested criminals were
victims of genetics and their
environments
some states then eliminated it entirely
while others restricted its use to a few
uncommon crimes however this revolution
was brief by 1920 most states had
reestablished the death penalty due to
World War one and the threat of a
socialist revolution 1924 saw the
application of the gas chamber as a
supposedly more humane option for
capital punishment and this caused a
revival in the use of the death penalty
as a deterrent in fact during
Prohibition and the Great Depression of
the 1930s the United States saw its
widest use of capital punishment with an
average of almost 170 killed each year
public opinion shifted against capital
punishment again in the 1950s and in
1966 it dropped to a record low during
that decade reinterpretations of the
Constitution suggested the death penalty
was in fact cruel and unusual punishment
and should be considered
unconstitutional this subject was
addressed in the Furman V Georgia case
of 1972 On June 29th that year the
Supreme Court ruled that consistency was
necessary when applying the death
penalty and that existing state laws
regarding execution were
unconstitutional this effectively put
the death penalty on hold in the United
States and saw the sentences for all
inmates on death row commuted to life in
prison to adhere to the findings of
Furman individual states began rewriting
their statutes with regards to capital
punishment the Gregg decision of July
2nd 1976 then saw the death penalty
reinstated however the crimes to which
it would be applied had changed On
January 17th the next year Gary Gilmore
became the first execution of the modern
era of capital punishment when he was
shot by a Utah firing squad on December
7th 1982 lethal injection was first used
as a method of execution and it
eventually became the preferred way of
carrying out sentences support for
capital punishment in the United States
peaked at 80 percent in 1994 and has
declined ever since
the debate was renewed in
eleven when a firestorm ignited
following the execution of convicted
murderer Troy Davis as many believed he
was innocent in recent years a number of
u.s. states abolished the death penalty
altogether however because of
conflicting belief systems it will
undoubtedly remain a divisive topic
the courts welcome to watchmojo.com and
today we’re taking a look at the history
of capital punishment in the United
States the idea of killing as a form of
retribution for one’s crimes dates back
centuries but was imported to America by
British settlers during the colonial era
it officially began early in the 17th
century when crimes like stealing
vegetables trading with Indians or
rejecting the idea of one God were
considered capital crimes in one point
hanging was the preferred method of
execution however more horrific means
like burning beating and breaking on a
wheel were also used though infrequently
movements against capital punishment
began early and were supported by
important figures of the day in 1777
founding father Thomas Jefferson
unsuccessfully tried to amend Virginia
laws regarding the death penalty to make
only murder and treason capital crimes
however in 1790 the u.s. Bill of Rights
and its 8th amendment saw that no cruel
or unusual punishment would be inflicted
on United States citizens when the
abolition movement gained steam in the
early 19th century states began
performing executions in prisons as
opposed to publicly as was once the
custom however the United States last
public execution was in 1936 in 1846
Michigan became the first state to
eliminate the death penalty for all
crimes except treason other states soon
did the same in the early 1860s the
Civil War derailed abolitionists but
once the war ended technological
advancements eased its use for example
the electric chair was first used to
carry out a death sentence in 1890 this
method was considered more humane than
hanging and was quickly adopted by New
York and a few other states in the early
20th century the belief that capital
punishment was unjust became more
widespread
when research suggested criminals were
victims of genetics and their
environments
some states then eliminated it entirely
while others restricted its use to a few
uncommon crimes however this revolution
was brief by 1920 most states had
reestablished the death penalty due to
World War one and the threat of a
socialist revolution 1924 saw the
application of the gas chamber as a
supposedly more humane option for
capital punishment and this caused a
revival in the use of the death penalty
as a deterrent in fact during
Prohibition and the Great Depression of
the 1930s the United States saw its
widest use of capital punishment with an
average of almost 170 killed each year
public opinion shifted against capital
punishment again in the 1950s and in
1966 it dropped to a record low during
that decade reinterpretations of the
Constitution suggested the death penalty
was in fact cruel and unusual punishment
and should be considered
unconstitutional this subject was
addressed in the Furman V Georgia case
of 1972 On June 29th that year the
Supreme Court ruled that consistency was
necessary when applying the death
penalty and that existing state laws
regarding execution were
unconstitutional this effectively put
the death penalty on hold in the United
States and saw the sentences for all
inmates on death row commuted to life in
prison to adhere to the findings of
Furman individual states began rewriting
their statutes with regards to capital
punishment the Gregg decision of July
2nd 1976 then saw the death penalty
reinstated however the crimes to which
it would be applied had changed On
January 17th the next year Gary Gilmore
became the first execution of the modern
era of capital punishment when he was
shot by a Utah firing squad on December
7th 1982 lethal injection was first used
as a method of execution and it
eventually became the preferred way of
carrying out sentences support for
capital punishment in the United States
peaked at 80 percent in 1994 and has
declined ever since
the debate was renewed in
eleven when a firestorm ignited
following the execution of convicted
murderer Troy Davis as many believed he
was innocent in recent years a number of
u.s. states abolished the death penalty
altogether however because of
conflicting belief systems it will
undoubtedly remain a divisive topic
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