The Flow and Ebb of American Capital Punishment

Abstract

Capital punishment laws and practices have changed significantly since 1608, when the first recorded execution on American soil was carried out in colonial Jamestown (Harries & Cheatwood, 1997, p. 17). A dozen or more felonies were typically punished by death in the original 13 states, including counterfeiting, burglary, robbery, arson, and others (Bye, 1926, p. 234; Mackey, 1982, pp. 40–41). Death sentences followed automatically on conviction (Bedau, 1982, pp. 9–10). They were carried out publicly, with great fanfare and normally by hanging. Public executions were designed to impress citizens with the state’s power and authority and, accompanied by gallows sermons and often-repentant offenders, to reinforce civic values and the social order (Masur, 1989, pp. 25–49).