The Death Penalty: An American History

395 Pages·2002·4.29 MB·English

by  Stuart Banner

Copyright © 2002 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Copyright © 2002 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
A N A M E R I C A N H I S T O R Y
STUART BANNER
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England
INTRODUCTION
Copyright © 2002 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Copyright © 2002 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First Harvard University Press paperback edition, 2003
Third printing, 2003
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Banner, Stuart, 1963–
The death penalty : an American history / Stuart Banner.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-674-00751-4 (cloth) ISBN 0-674-01083-3 (pbk.)
1. Capital punishment—United States—History. 2. Capital punishment—Moral and
ethical aspects—United States. 3. United States—Social conditions. I. Title.
HV8699.U5 B367 2002
364.66′0973—dc21
2001047047
Copyright © 2002 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
For Tamara: donec gratus sum tibi, Persarum vivo rege laetior
Copyright © 2002 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Copyright © 2002 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1. Terror, Blood, and Repentance 5
2. Hanging Day 24
3. Degrees of Death 53
4. The Origins of Opposition 88
5. Northern Reform, Southern Retention 112
6. Into the Jail Yard 144
7. Technological Cures 169
8. Decline 208
9. To the Supreme Court 231
10. Resurrection 267
Epilogue 307
Appendix: Counting Executions 313
Notes 315
Acknowledgments 371
Index 373
Copyright © 2002 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Copyright © 2002 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
AAS American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass.
CHS Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, Ill.
CTA Connecticut State Archives, Hartford, Conn.
CTL Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Conn.
FDR Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, N.Y.
GAA Georgia Department of Archives and History, Atlanta, Ga.
ILA Illinois State Archives, Springªeld, Ill.
JC Jimmy Carter Library, Atlanta, Ga.
LC Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
LFP Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Archives, Washington and Lee University
School of Law, Lexington, Va.
MAA Massachusetts Archives, Boston, Mass.
MDA Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Md.
MOA Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City, Mo.
NA National Archives, College Park, Md.
NCA North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, N.C.
NYA New York State Archives, Albany, N.Y.
NYDT New-York Daily Tribune
NYHS New-York Historical Society, New York, N.Y.
NYL New York State Library, Albany, N.Y.
NYT New York Times
PAA Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, Pa.
PG Pennsylvania Gazette
SCA South Carolina Archives & History Center, Columbia, S.C.
TXA Texas State Archives, Austin, Tex.
VAA Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.
VG Virginia Gazette
Copyright © 2002 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Copyright © 2002 The President and Fellows of Harvard College