The Controversy of Death Penalty in the US

The death penalty, ever since it was established, has created a huge controversy all throughout the world. Ever since the death penalty was created, there have been people who supported the death penalty and those who wanted to destroy it. When the death penalty was first created the methods that were used were gruesome and painful, it goes against the Eighth Amendment that was put in place many years later. The methods they used were focused on torturing the people and putting them through as much pain as possible. In today’s society the death penalty is quick and painless, it follows the Eighth Amendment. Still there are many people who are against capital punishment. The line of whether to kill a man or women for murder or to let him or her spend the rest one’s life in prison forever will never be drawn in a staight.

The death penalty, created in the Eighteen Century B.C by King Hammurabi of Babylon, was a way to punish those who went against the laws and committed crimes. Back in the B.C. era and all the way until the late Tenth Century the methods of the death penalty were being crucified, beaten to death, burned alive, and drowned. The methods of execution died down in the Tenth Century, the execution methods became less heinous and over the top. Hanging became the most used method of execution, but that soon changed in the Sixteenth Century. Henry VIII of Britain brought back all the horrible and gruesome methods of execution and also implementing more ghastly methods. Over 72,000 people were executed either by being boiled to death, burned at the stake, hanged, beheaded, and drawing and quartering. Drawing and quartering is where the accused is tied to a horse and dragged to the gallows where he is hung by the neck for a...

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Still to this day there many people who are against the death penalty even after seeing all the changes the government and the people have made. Many people do not believe that it is right to punish someone to death; they believe that if we are going to stop killing the government needs to be a leader and stop killing people as well. Some believe that the system is unfair and race becomes a huge debate. Racial discrimination will always be a factor when looking at death penalty cases. There will never be a clear line in whether or not death penalty is the right thing to do; there will always be people for and against it. The factor that needs to stay constant is the courts and jury being fair to gender, race, illness, age, and the methods they use to put these people to death.

Works Cited

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/part-i-history-death-penalty