Humane Execution

Capital Punishment has existed for centuries, but it was not always as quick and humane as it is now. Some of the early methods of execution included boiling a prisoner to death in oil; dismembering a convict, often by having them drawn and quartered (a process in which four separate ropes are tied to a person's arms and legs and then attached to a horse or other large animal. All four animals are sent running in different directions at the same time, effectively tearing off the prisoner's limbs and allowing them to bleed to death); or placing them on a rotating wheel and beating them with clubs, hammers, and other torture devices. Many of these practices could take hours or even days to result in death, and the person being executed would be left in agony. A prisoner would sometimes be dealt a death blow which was referred to as the coups de grace after they had suffered for long enough.

By the late 18th and early 19th centuries, these brutal practices were most often viewed as being barbaric and inhumane. At the start of the 19th century, Britain prohibited some of the more violent methods of execution. The country had been well known for their slow and painful methods of executing criminals who were found guilty of even very minor crimes. In fact, the rules that Britain had in place for several hundred years so often led to the Death Penalty that they were later referred to as the "Bloody Code." As the laws were revised, certain unlawful deeds were still punishable by death, but the sheer number of those crimes was greatly reduced and the procedure for carrying out the sentence started to become more humane.

In the late 1700's, a swift method of execution was invented in the form of a machine that would quickly decapitate a person. The guillotine, invented in France, was a tall machine that had a razor sharp blade placed inside of a wooden structure. An executioner would raise the blade, and place the condemned person's head underneath it. When the time had come, the blade would be released with enough force to bring about an instant death. Another popular method of execution was revised to be more humane around this same time. Hangings were a popular style of putting law breakers to death for years, and it was once a long and agonizing process. The new procedure called for inmates to be dropped at full speed after a noose was placed around their necks. This caused the death to be over in an instant.

The United States was responsible for the introduction of two types of execution that are considered to be among the most humane options available. The first was the electric chair, upon which a doomed individual would be strapped and given an electric shock with enough power to kill them quickly. A gas chamber was also built to execute criminals quickly and without pain. This is a small room that is completely sealed off once the prisoner is secured inside. Lethal gasses are then pumped into the room to carry out the sentence. A similar method of injecting poisons into the human body was also created, but many people argue that this is a less humane and more painful experience than other options.

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