Importance Of Execution Methods In America

Execution Methods in America
When the first Europeans came to America, they had a lot of their own methods of execution. They had unique ways of executing people in Europe from the dark ages. There were many different types of punishment that they experimented with and eventually got rid of, but more often than not they left their old ways behind. The Guillotine was a popular method of execution in Europe, but once they travelled to America, hanging was used more often. In America, we tried five main ways of executing people and as the years went on, we developed a system as to how and when a person would be executed. We currently take a long time to determine someone guilty of a crime that is punishable by execution. There are also laws that state that a juvenile cannot receive the death penalty, but can be given jail time (Clark County Prosecution Attorney). Throughout American history the execution methods have gone from hanging to lethal injection and everything in between, but along with …show more content…
The idea for the electric chair was brought up by Albert Southwick who watched a drunk touch an electrical generator. It appeared to be painless, so they paid Edwin Davis to create the first chair. “Closely resembling the modern device, Davis’ chair was fitted with two electrodes, which were composed of metal disks held together with rubber and covered in a damp sponge” (history.com). Davis’ design had two disks, one attaching to the inmate 's head, and the other to their back. Kemmler’s execution took eight minutes in which his flesh and clothes burned. During his autopsy they discovered that the electrode attached to his back had burned clear through to his spine (history.com). Burning skin was an obvious problem and they never actually found a way to resolve it, along with the issue of it taking so long for the person to die from