Getting Rid of the Death Penalty
Getting Rid of the Death Penalty
Getting Rid of the Death Penalty
Capital punishment was a corrective measure that was widely used all over the world. It is difficult to pin point the exact date of its origin but it is a fact that it was practiced intensely during medieval times. Crimes have occurred probably since the beginning of time and therefore there was a need for a counter attack to minimize if not eradicate it completely. Laws were created for this purpose, but like everything man creates they have proved imperfect and in some cases entirely unacceptable.
In Britain, as James B Christoph[1] points out, the major cause for this trend was the social and economic chaos brought about by the Industrial Revolution. The spread of poverty as well as child labor, prostitution and other social evils went hand in hand with unexpected wealth, which sparked off crime. The amazing existence of both these extremes caused insecurity among the lawmakers in Britain resulting in the creation of strict rules, making any offense from stealing turnips to cutting down a tree punishable by death. Some examples he sites show just how obscure the law was.
In 1801, a 13-year-old boy was publicly hanged for breaking into a house and stealing a spoon. In 1808, a 7-year-old girl was hang at Lynn for setting a house on fire. To express concern over the above examples, surely these minors did not deserve the kind of punishment they received. Were these crimes so heinous and diabolically evil that only through execution would everyone else understand the gravity of contemplating such an act?
Passage of time is usually synonymous with change and as usual man is looking for more innovative ways to carry out his daily activities. This pursuit for perfection did not exclude the death penalty. Other methods of carrying out this punishment emerged, some, more blood curdling than the next but still deemed fit by our ancestral “law makers. ”
Beheading was a common practice for the Romans and the Greeks. They considered it honorable and therefore preferred it to hanging. The instruments used were the axe and the sword. Later on, the English also employed beheading as sited by John Lawrence.1[2] He states that William the Conqueror introduced beheading to England and the first unfortunate person to experience it was a man named Waltheof, Earl of Northumberland, in 1076. Differing from the Romans and Greeks, the English reserved this punishment for high-ranking offenders. The range was from Lords to Earls, Dukes to Duchesses and even in some cases Archbishops. Several variations occurred in different countries, for example in Denmark, it was more honorable to be executed by the sword than by the axe. In Sweden, beheading was carried out by axe, and in the case of a woman, after the execution, her body was cremated.
The guillotine, is thought to have been created shortly before the French Revolution.2[3] It consisted of two huge uprights between which a hatchet was placed, and erected on a platform reached by taking 24 steps up. The doomed was tied to a plank, kneeling down, exposing his head. A cord attached to the huge hatchet suspended it and when the time came, all the executioner had to do was cut the cord. Due to its impressive nature, the Constituent Assembly in France decreed that everyone condemned to death would be executed by this method. Once again, these forms of punishment prove too severe for any conceivable crime.
In present day society, with the introduction of human right for all, such a form of punishment is considered disturbing and so it should. This chapter in human history should not be forgotten though, because many people are still emotionally scarred for life be it friends or family of the unfortunate sufferers of this act. Instead, it should be known by all and past on to future generations so that even in the worst of times, such an act should never manifest itself in anyone who has the power to introduce it back into society. On the report shown previously took place in the time not too many of us can say remember. Unfortunately there are still years in history related to the subject matter a little easier to recall.
Chinas Crimes and Punishment3[4] was the heading of a fairly recent magazine, unfortunately the punishment wasnt as lenient as anyone would expect in this day and age. In 1996, China