The judicial system in the seventeenth century have reached the goals of the death penalty. First, criminals gauranteed that they will not repeat their crimes. Second, the death penalty is a sanctioned retribution, according to a sense of justice, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." Third, the death penalty was considered to be a powerful deterrent. The history of the death penalty is one of the most controversial issue despite general beliefs. This brings us to the controversial question that many Americans have to choose: should we keep capital punishment or not? Capital punishment should be abolished because killing another life is like contradicting the very issue of "an eye for an eye," because killing another person won't bring back the victim. .
Capital punishment has been around ever since the time of the Babylonian king Hammurabi between 1750 and 1760 B.C(Stewart 8). The death penalty is the maximum sentence used in punishing people who kill other human beings(Guernsey 5). In China about 1500 people are executed. In 1608 the first execution was documented in the United States. "That first execution set the stage for what has become one of America's most discussed, most volatile legal issues."(Abott35). Criminals being punished on the death penalty were hung, shot, electrocuted, gassing, and lethal injections. The first lethal injections took place in 1983, in Texas. "Americans will be forced to confront the death penalty as practice rather than as an abstract principle"(Guersey 35). .
Many abolitionists question the justice of the death penalty. The movement to abolish the death penalty is still active. In 1829 about twenty four persons were executed and hung to which were all innocent. From 1832 to 1837 a large number of offenses were swept away and in 1840 the question to abolish capital punishment was brought in the justice and over ninety members had voted in favor of the resolution.
