How the United States didn't ban the death penalty

What's the history of attempts to abolish the death penalty in the U.S.? And what did people think about them at the time?

Early America inherited much of Britain’s bloodthirsty but arbitrary approach to the death penalty, with theoretical penalties for things like theft and rebellious children that were rarely carried out. However, executions did happen for crimes short of murder: Death was...

How France banned the death penalty

How did France ban the death penalty? And what did people think about it at the time?

Capital punishment was debated during the French revolution (1789-1799). Due to the influence of Beccaria and Voltaire, the discussion was similar to how the death penalty is discussed today. Robespierre said “The state’s execution of the death penalty is legalized...

How the United Kingdom banned the death penalty

How did the U.K. ban the death penalty? And what did people think about it at the time?

When Beccaria wrote On Crimes and Punishments in 1764, there were around 150 crimes punishable in Britain by death. This “bloody code” included crimes as small as the theft of some items worth 1 shilling. For context, a skilled worker...

How Germany banned the death penalty

How did Germany ban the death penalty? And what did people think about it at the time?

Germany came close to banning the death penalty several times in its early history: In the 1848 revolution, the new constitution almost completely banned it, but this was immediately overturned by the conservative restoration. When Germany unified in 1870-1871 it...

The death penalty as a lens on democracy

What does abolition of the death penalty teach us about who is in change?

Who is really in charge? In democracies, policies are correlated with public opinion, but why? The obvious explanation is that people choose representatives, and those representatives give them what they want. But maybe the causal arrow points in the other...