Death Penalty

The death penalty first dates back to Eighteenth Century B.C. in the code of King Hammurabi, which had the death penalty for 254 different crimes. The code is believed to be the first organized law. In Britain during the early Nineteenth century, because of the severity many juries did not convict defendants if the offense was not serious enough for the death penalty. This lead to reform of the Britains death penalty. They then lowered the crimes punishable by death. Britain influenced Americas use of the death penalty more than any other country. When the settlers came to New England in the early colonies they brought the practice of capital punishment, The death penalty was used on many minor offenses such as stealing grapes, killing chickens, and trading with Indians. The first problem with against capital punishment Baccaria’s On Crimes and Punishment, he theorized that there was no justification for the government to take someone’s life. His essay gave people an authoritive vo...