The Death Sentence, a commonly used method to erase the worst of people from the surface of the earth. The first established death penalty laws date back as far as the Eighteenth Century B.C. which codified the death penalty for 25 individual crimes. By the tenth century A.D, hanging had became the most used and popular method of death, especially in countries such as Britain; Britain also influenced America's use of the death penalty more than any other country had.
Death Penalty Methods
Many more methods of dealing the death penalty are used to this modern day, like the electric chair and the lethal injection (both used in some states in america), which have been modified and evolved to deal a less 'brutal' death, and more of a 'peaceful' and 'calm' one (especially the lethal injection, in which you die quickly and with no excruciating pain). Some old methods are still used to this day; for example stoning is still one of the capital punishments in Saudi Arabia, and some neighboring countries as well. Stoning is one brutal way to die, in which the town/city residents, on command, would throw rocks and stones at the 'criminal', who is either tied to a pole or in a dugout/hole, until he/she dies. The wrong-doer would contract immense pain on his way to death, consequently this is why many countries stopped using this method long ago.
UK - Hangings
The UK have used many tactics and methods to end the lives of the dangerous and the un-containable. The last technique used before the death penalty was completely banished in the UK was hanging; hanging was a capital punishment during the 1900's, in which one was led up onto a wooden stage and was forced to stand on a box. Once the noose, the rope that would end up killing them, was tied secure to their neck, the box would be removed from under their feet and a trapdoor was opened, so they could definitely not touch the ground, leaving them dangling from the rope. The rope would stop the arteries in both sides of their neck from pumping blood to their brain; the rope will also choke them from the front. The victim would on average die in around 4-6 minutes; the last recorded hangings where on the 13th August, 1964. Peter Anthony Allen in Liverpool, and Gwynne Owens Evans in Manchester were both executed for the murder of John Alan West, April that year.
Prison Life
Life for prisoners have improved over many centuries; prisons and camps have dated back to the 3rd millennia B.C, all with different qualities of living. Looking at America, a country well known for its high security prisons and death sentences, we can conclude a lot has changed in the last 150 years for the U.S. Firstly, prisoners at this current time have so much more rights then they would have a century ago; in the past, prisoners would have had to be living in a cell close to a damp, confined dungeon. However, thanks to protests and riots performed by the inmates, the systems were changed and inmates gained many privileges they didn't have before: radios and televisions, better food and meals, increased visitation rights and books. Furthermore, to this day inmates are given the chance at education opportunities, usually only offered to inmates that have a chance of getting out of prison. They can be taught how to sort their lives out, how best to use any money they can obtain and other life skills; they can also learn trade skills like wood working, welding and many others.
Death Row - Indiana State Prison
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Created with images by (vincent desjardins) - "Deutschland : KZ Konzentrationslager Buchenwald : Gitter 2 1937" • Fæ - "A new method of macarony making, as practised at Boston LCCN2004673300"