The Electric Chair

Paper Summary:

This paper asserts that, although more humane than the often inefficient hangings that caused death by strangulation, the electric chair is far from painless and instantaneous. In addition, the paper discusses several social implications of the implementation of the electric chair. To support these hypotheses, the means of execution prior to the electric chair are examined, as is the history of the electric chair itself.

Outline
Introduction
Means of Execution Prior to the Electric Chair
History of Electric Chair
Is the Electric Chair a More Humane Method of Execution?
Social Implications of the Electric Chair
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Prior to 1890, most state laws allowed for capital punishment, typically by hanging. "Execution by hanging was a grim, hands-on business. (...) It took a strong stomach indeed to wrap a noose around the condemned man, then let him drop through a gallows trapdoor to choke and gasp and swing until he died" (Blackwell). Due to the inexperience and ignorance of many hangmen, hangings often produced horrifyingly slow, strangulations death, and grisly decapitations ("The History") as opposed to the quick, breaking of the neck that the process was supposed to incur."

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