The Importance of Capital Punishment

             Throughout the history of the human race, people have been put to death as retribution for various forms of wrongdoing. Prior to the first criminal laws, these killings were acts of private retribution with no specific code for which crime would justify the infliction of death. The earliest set of recorded laws for capital punishment dates back to 1700BC in the city of Babylon. These laws were called the Hamurabe Code, which proclaimed the death penalty to be used for most crimes, including minor offenses like the fraudulent sale of beer (Flanders 5). Many other societies throughout ancient times implemented the same punishment for various crimes, and methods of execution have included such practices as crucifixion, stoning, drowning, and beheading.
             Egyptians, Athenians, and Romans were put to death for most offenses. One of the most prominent examples was when Jesus Christ was crucified under the laws of the Roman Empire. Widespread use of capital punishment changed very little throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period. During the reign of King Henry VIII in the first half of the sixteenth century in England, there where over 350 capital crimes resulting in over 70,000 executions (Forer 19). The American colonies inherited the British system of law when we were settled, although each colony had its own criminal code and capital crimes were much more limited. Capital offenses included witchcraft, blasphemy and adultery in early Puritan Massachusetts. In comparison, the Quakers in Pennsylvania only applied the death penalty to treason and murder (Flanders 11).
             During the first one hundred fifty years of US history, the federal government played a minor role in setting policies about capital punishment. Each of the new territories set their own laws for capital crimes, even after becoming states (Issues). The majority of the states practiced executions, although some had abolished them on their own, beginning wi...

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The Importance of Capital Punishment. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 01:30, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/102738.html