FREE ESSAY ON PUBLIC HANGINGS

PUBLIC HANGINGS

Capital punishment seemed to have been regenerated from the beginning of mankind, where
beheading was considered an honorable method of meeting death, whereas hanging carried
with it a definite stigma. The era of public hanging was emotionally satisfying even
though the surroundings was emotionally tense. In contrast to private hangings where they
were fewer observers, less theatrical from the accuse and hanging was becoming more of an
inhuman punishment to inflict on those found guilty of their crime. Both forms of
hangings were though to be an effective way of preventing individuals from committing a
crime. Capital punishment seemed morally acceptable, to the public and there were
individuals who were willing to carry out the execution. From the books; ...Hang By the
Neck..., Hanging in the Balance and The trail of the Dinosaur, gives descriptions of
public and private hangings, the responsibilities of the hangman and the general reaction
of the public, who were for and againts hangings.
In the days of public hangings, gallows or scaffolds were rather crude contraptions.
Early contraptions consisted of two post in the ground, with a cross-piece between them
from which the victim swung. As the years passed by a second contraption was invented, a
single stout post with a timber nailed at a right angle at the top, with supporting
boards attached. A third contraption was made which was a platform erected nine or more
feet from the ground, in the middle of which was a trap door which swung upon hinges.
This latest invention was commonly used towards the end of public hangings. In private
hangings the same contraption was used, but the individual were taken down a lot quicker,
for their was no need to display the executed to curious observer.
Public executions were grim and was a disgusting spectacle to the accuses' family and
close friends, but for most individuals it was a time to rejoice and to celebrate. When a
crowd assembled to witness a public event, they were out in a holiday mood. Hundreds of
people came from long distances to view a hanging, concessionaires had money invested in
trinkets and food to be sold at what they called jamborees. Public hanging were often
imitated in plays, which were seen as despicable form of entertainment towards the victim
and the accuses family. The scenes attending the hangings were for large gatherings from
far and near, mostly bent on idle curiosity or for a grand jollification.
 Hanging day were during the eighteenth and up to half of the nineteenth century, the
equivalent of national bank holidays, only more frequent. No single event brought more
spectators in those years than a public hanging. People would drive from miles around and
some individual would camp in the vicinity for several days before the event. The
individuals who made a great profit during this period were the vendors, pick-pockets,
promoters, peddlers and medicine men, all would descend upon the town before the fatal
day. Bringing along toy-like gallows, with a miniature person to hang at the same moment
as the real individual was being executed. Other noticeable sight-seers were religious
groups such as the evangelists, the accused family and friends. In most the towns in the
USA the mayor issued proclamations of warnings, making saloons and taverns closed for a
short period of time before and during the hanging. But despite such precautions, brawls
and arguments took place, which led to murders being committed and those individuals
later being hanged.  In 1807 the crowd of forty thousands became so crazed and outraged
at the execution of Holloway and Haggarthy , it nearly left a hundred dead, dying or
lying in the street when the show was over.
Towards the end of the 19th century a growing public feeling was in favor of privatizing
the hangings.  On February 16 1841, the first motion to abolish public hangings was
introduced into parliament , and it was greeted with laughter from the public. They
showed no sorrow, no salutary terror, no abhorrence, no seriousness, nothing but
drunkenness and flaunting on their behalf. In the privatized hangings in the early days,
they were done behind the prison gates but outside the jail walls. Where any curious
viewer could climb a tree or sit on top of a roof and still observe the hangings being
performed. But with the growing public some were still getting injured and laws were
starting to be instated to protect the well being on the public during these events. The
laws of 1830 and 1840 were quite similar , it stated that public opinions were calling
for hangings to be perform inside the county jails or in the state prisons.
The newspaper during the public hanging period often published articles that were treated
as ordinary mundane experiences, it was beginning to be very repetitive, with few
embellishments and some with no colorful headlines. This changed during the private era,
when the only details about a hanging were in the newspaper, their writing became more
sensational with headlines and elaborated stories.
In both the public and private era, hangings could not have been performed without the
executioner, otherwise known as the hangman. In the public era it was taken as a great
opportunity to hang an accuse. Most of the hangman did not conceal their identity from
the public, such as a form of mask. They were simply considered by the public as a savior
in doing what they considered dirty work and which some would rather watch and rejoice
the event. The public was being brained washed into thinking that a hanging was
beneficial to their day to day life or else the wise laws would not have encouraged them
people to witness it. The hangman had the power to either make the accuse die slowly or
with speed. On more than one occasion the hangman came to the execution intoxicated and
almost unable to perform the execution. But since their was no one who could be
considered a back-up, it went along this way for several more years. They often got a
hangman who had previously committed a crime or was serving time for a lesser crime in
jail. Those individuals were commissioned to hang others, with an reprisals of their own
lesser crimes. More than one of these hangman later committed crimes which led them to be
hanged at the same place where they were once executioners. 
During the private era the hangman became more responsible. They were no longer public
citizens performing the task, but public officials usually the town sheriff, who was
later highly commended for having performed the unpleasant task himself. But soon it was
apparent that it was beginning to become a problem of hanging the accuse, some were
having thoughts of hanging an individual was not appropriate. The hangman during this
period were also given new identities, their faces were either blackened with coal or had
black hoods preventing the witnesses from seeing their faces. 
As the 19th century came to a close so did most of the public hangings. More and more
individuals were considering this form of capital punishment demoralizing and inhumane as
far as public decency, respect and morality were concern. There were some indications
that the public sentiment was swinging away from this barbaric exhibitionism of the
past.
Although this form of capital punishment was not swift and was commonly accompanied by
sharp pain. Forms of pain suffered by the accuse ranged from strangulation, suffocation,
breaking of the neck or shock to the nerve. Public hanging had lasted for so many years,
because the general public were not educated enough and most of the observers were from
the lower class of society. As the years moved along in came private hangings which
showed a little compassion toward the individual being hanged. The accuse no longer had
to be gawked at or have to observe the behavior of the public, which ran from raucous
railing againts the cruelty towards the condemned, to pious sympathy, to observers just
having a gay time. No mater what justification may be presented, killing of an individual
guilty or innocent, because of it's finality is a uniquely destructive act, whether the
killer is an executioner or a murderer.