Between 1976 and the present, there have been 1,446 executions (Death Penalty Information Center). 1,446 people have been put to death for committing crimes such as murder and treason. The death penalty is definitely not a new prospect; far from it, first known to be practiced in the 14th century B.C.E. (Death Penalty Information Center). In fact, some describe capital punishment as a barbaric, outdated, or unsophisticated form of justice. America is, after all, one of the only developed countries that still enforces the death penalty. Others argue that it is necessary in keeping law and order and helps to deter crime. The death penalty has an interesting history, and still today there is an argument about whether or not it should continue to be enforced, possibly because of the historically discriminatory nature of the death penalty.
In early colonial America, the death penalty was fairly strictly enforced. …show more content…
Pennsylvania began to move executions away from the public, Michigan abolished the death penalty for all crimes except for treason, and Rhode Island and Wisconsin became the first two states to abolish the death penalty for all crimes (Death Penalty Information Center). Later, in the early 20th century, more states began to abolish the death penalty; six states completely outlawed the death penalty, and 3 limited it to treason and first degree murder. This was short lived, because the panic and paranoia caused by World War I and the socialist movement moved many of these states to reinstate the death penalty. Today, however, nineteen of the fifty states in the U.S.A. have completely outlawed the death penalty, whereas the other 31 have the death penalty of some shape or form, usually used only in cases concerning first-degree murder, though there are some exceptions. However, 36 states have not had an execution in the past five years and 31 states have not had an execution in the past 10