deathrow through the years

Birth

1750 BCE

King Hammurabi of Babylon was one of the first known major leaders to justify the death penalty for his form of government. During his rule king Hammurabi set a code in order to lay down his law and in this code remained 25 crimes in which he self justified execution. This can be assumed to have effected the global views in execution since it was one of the first great civilizations and many leader base their decisions of the past.

Spread

621 BCE

Even though it may not have a direct effect on the United States the Greeks are look on for example in many different categories and they too accepted this form of punishment. Never less Athens is looked too for being one of the smartest of the Greek city states and that can be shown in their modification of their own constitution and code in which both contained laws backing the need and justification of the death penalty in the reformed Draconian constitution.

Familiar waters

972

In early England the death penalty again comes up in common law as a punishment, this time in a more directly impactful land, that is England. Under King Ethelstan England like many other kingdoms practiced execution for crimes they deemed fit.

A pause

1066

For the first time in know recorded history William the conqueror totally abolished executions except in times of war. This execution standard was not just erased of course and instead the standard was just lowered by their then current ruler due to his belief of it undermining human dignity. The penalty’s for great crimes simply were scaled down slightly however and did not go unpunished; instead crimes deemed necessary resulted in castration and blinding under Williams rule.

Revival

1547

As time went on the decision on the death penalty laid with the ruler, but as far as common practice was concerned execution's were no surprise. Enter Henry the third, this tyrannical ruler is said to have elicited on a high end of 72,000 people. That number fluctuates as I have also seen 52,000 people states by reliable sources, never the less King Henry was a mass murder killing many such as up to 63 protesters at once, 2 wives, and two close friends.

influenced

1608

As new lands were being found ideals of course were being altered, but not the opinions on execution; this is apparent in the then new colonies of America. As colonies were being spread throughout this new world they still were held on old principles such as the practicality of the death penalty with their first execution being on a Captain named George Kendall when he was accused and executed by a firing squad for treason being the first recorded execution in the colonies.

Abuse of power

1612

Executions were widely held and widely accepted which in turn lead to a huge abuse in power especially in the newly and very wild colonies. A clear example of this was Virginias governor sir Thomas Dale enacted the Divine, Moral and Martial Laws, which provided the death penalty for a multitude of lesser crimes such as trading with Indians.

adopting wrong doings

1665

Colonies continued to adopt and base law off of the death penalty's and continued adapt a common acceptance of senseless death. This diminishing of human lives is reflected by the new York colony when they instituted the dukes laws that deemed death necessary as a punishment's for domestic assault and rebottling the existence of god.

close to home

1963

The only execution carried out in Michigan after it gained statehood was the federal execution of Anthony Chebatoris in 1938. The death penalty has been constitutionally banned in Michigan since 1963. Michigan has always understood the value of life since the first colonies outlawed execution as a state after a false execution was confirmed in early colonies but only recently has constitutional outlaws of the punishment providing a bright change in the future of the penalty.

Call for justice

1973

As death row became a more strict use of punishment in modern times death totals drop. Still there are innocents at risk of improper justice and cruel punishment as the Death Penalty Information Center said in its examination of every death sentence handed down since 1973 revealed that 185 death row inmates had been exonerated after being wrongfully convicted and killed.