Controversy surrounds many fundamental components of the American nation, one of them being capital punishment, otherwise known as the death penalty. Advocators of the death penalty believe that such consequences will reduce crime, while opponents to the death penalty feel that such a sentence is too drastic within society. If the death penalty is removed, then criminals will feel that the gains of an illegal action will outweigh the risk of consequences. In turn, this lack of fear will result in an abundance of horrific crimes. (PC) The death penalty should be implemented in order to punish certain severe criminals. .
First of all, the death penalty sentence should continue to be a part of the American legal system due to the fact that it was instated in the nation's original set of laws and continues to be appropriate as a consequence for certain crimes. Considering the Constitution in its entirety has remained relevant since its formation, America should continue to abide by its laws and the laws of the time period in which it was written. For example, all of the original thirteen colonies used the death penalty for punishment of crimes, not limited to murder, during the colonial era and even after the Constitution was written (Elliot). (E) Therefore the same implementation of punishment should be used as was stated in the original clauses of the Constitution and used during that era. At the time the death penalty was extremely widespread and went unquestioned on the morals and ethics of the punishment. During that era, the death penalty was also very common place in England and across Europe (Elliot). In America, hanging was the most common method of execution, firing squads were also used, until about 1900. By the mid-1900's most states started using either gas chamber or electrocution (Smith). America has hundreds of laws and practices that are much older than the death penalty therefore; the death penalty is not outdated and does not need to be abolished.