Invention of the electric chair. History of the invention of the electric chair

Execution in the electric chair until recently was considered one of the most humane ways to kill criminals. However, over the years of application, it turned out that this type of execution is by no means completely painless, but, on the contrary, can cause terrible torment to the convict. What can happen to a person who is electric chair?

Criminals were executed in the electric chair in late XIX century, when supporters of the "progressive" society decided that earlier existing species executions such as burning at the stake, hanging and beheading are inhumane. From their point of view, the criminal should not suffer additionally in the process of execution: after all, he is already being deprived of the most precious thing - his life.

It is believed that the first model of the electric chair was invented in 1888 by Harold Brown, who worked for the Thomas Edison Company. According to others, the inventor of the electric chair was the dentist Albert Southwick.

The essence of the execution is this. The convict is shaved head and back of the leg. Then the torso and arms are firmly tied with straps to a chair made of dielectric, with a high back and armrests. Legs are fixed with special clamps. At first, the criminals were blindfolded, then they began to put a hood on their heads, and in recent times- a special mask. One electrode is attached to the head, on which the helmet is put on, the other to the leg. The executioner turns on the switch button, which passes through the body alternating current power up to 5 amperes and voltage from 1700 to 2400 volts. An execution usually takes about two minutes. Two discharges are given, each is switched on for one minute, the interval between them is 10 seconds. Death, which should occur from cardiac arrest, is mandatory recorded by the doctor.

For the first time this method of execution was applied on August 6, 1890 in the Auburn prison of the US state of New York to William Kemmler, convicted of the murder of his mistress Tilly Zeigler.

Up to now, more than 4,000 people have been executed in this way in the United States. Also, a similar type of execution was used in the Philippines. The communist spouses Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who worked for Soviet intelligence, also ended their lives in the electric chair.

"False" procedure

It was assumed that when passing through the body electric current the person will die immediately. But this did not always happen. Often, eyewitnesses had to observe how people put in an electric chair convulsed, bit their tongues, foam and blood came out of their mouths, their eyes popped out of their sockets, involuntary emptying of the intestines and bladder occurred. Some uttered piercing cries during the execution ... Almost always, after the discharge was applied, a light smoke began to go from the skin and hair of the convict. There have also been cases when a person sitting in an electric chair caught fire and exploded in the head. Quite often, the burnt skin "glued" to the belts and the seat. The bodies of the executed turned out, as a rule, so hot that it was impossible to touch them, and then the “aroma” of burnt human flesh hovered in the room for a long time.

One of the protocols describes an episode when the convict was exposed to a discharge of 2450 volts for 15 seconds, but a quarter of an hour after the procedure, he was still alive. As a result, the execution had to be repeated three more times, until the offender finally died. The last time, his eyeballs even melted.

In 1985, William Vandiver was electrocuted five times in Indiana. It took 17 minutes to kill him.

According to experts, when exposed to such a high voltage, the human body, including the brain and other internal organs, is literally fried alive. Even if death occurs quickly enough, at least a person feels the strongest muscle spasm throughout the body, as well as acute pain at the points of contact with the skin of the electrodes. This is usually followed by loss of consciousness. Here is the memoir of one of the survivors: “There was a taste of cold peanut butter in my mouth. I felt my head and left leg burning, so I tried with all my might to break free from the bonds. 17-year-old Willie Francis, who sat in the electric chair in 1947, shouted: “Turn it off! Let me breathe!"

Repeatedly, the execution became painful as a result of various failures and malfunctions. So, on May 4, 1990, when the criminal Jesse D. Tafero was executed, a synthetic gasket under the helmet ignited, and the convict received third-fourth degree burns. A similar thing happened on March 25, 1997 with Pedro Medina. In both cases, the current had to be turned on several times. In total, the execution procedure took 6-7 minutes, so it could not be called quick and painless.

The story of the murderer of the whole family, Allen Lee Davis, caused a great resonance. In the end, he suffocated.

Chair or injection?

Over time, it became clear that the "humane" execution is in fact often a painful torture, and its use was limited. True, some people believe that the point here is not at all in humanity, but in the high cost of the procedure.

Currently, electric chair execution is used only in six US states - Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. Moreover, the convict is offered a choice - an electric chair or a lethal injection. The last time the above-mentioned measure was applied on January 16, 2013 in Virginia to Robert Gleason, who deliberately killed two of his cellmates in order to have his life sentence commuted to a death sentence.

In addition, there is a law in the USA: if after the third category the sentenced person survives, then he receives a pardon: they say, it means that this is the will of God ...

At the choice of the convict, along with a lethal injection, and in Kentucky and Tennessee, only those who committed a crime earlier than a certain date have the right to choose to use the electric chair (in Kentucky - April 1, 1998, in Tennessee - January 1, 1999). In Nebraska, the electric chair was used as the only method of execution, but on February 8, 2008, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that it was a "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibited by the constitution. In Oklahoma, it can only be used in strictly specified cases, for example, if all other methods of execution are found unconstitutional at the time of the execution of the death sentence.

During 2004 this method of execution was used only once, in 2005 it was never used, in 2006 - once.

The last known case of using the electric chair was on March 18, 2010, when Paul Powell, a racist killer, was executed in Virginia, who killed a girl for dating an African American, and also raped and tried to kill her sister.

Device and principle of operation

The electric chair is a chair made of dielectric material with armrests and a high back, equipped with straps for rigid fixation of the sentenced person. Hands are attached to the armrests, legs - in special clamps on the legs of the chair. The chair also comes with a helmet. Electrical contacts are connected to the ankle attachment points and to the helmet. Part technical support step-up transformer included. During the execution, an alternating current with a voltage of about 2700 is supplied to the contacts, the current limiting system maintains a current through the body of the convict of the order of 5. (The figures given are for the electric chair used in Massachusetts, as described in section .) Current and voltage are limited to prevent the condemned person from bursting into flames during execution.

The chair's power management system has a power-on protection that must be deactivated immediately before execution. responsible person with a special key. According to one version, the chair may have one or more control switches, by pressing which the current is turned on. In this case, they are turned on simultaneously by different executioners, and in reality the current turns on only one of them. This order is used so that no one, including the performers themselves, could know who actually carried out the execution (by analogy with the well-known type of execution, when parts of the shooters are given weapons loaded with blank cartridges).

The order of execution

The convict is seated in an electric chair, the hands are attached to the armrests, and the legs are attached to the foot contact mounts. Before putting the helmet on, a hood is put on the suicide bomber's head, or his eyes are sealed. The helmet is put on the head of the convict, on which the hair on the top of the head is shaved before execution. A sponge impregnated with saline is inserted into the helmet, this is done in order to ensure a minimum electrical resistance helmeted contact with the head and, thus, hasten death and alleviate the physical suffering of the convict. The torso is fixed with additional straps.

After turning off the protection system, the executioner turns on the current. The voltage is turned on twice, for one minute, with a break of 10 seconds (in different designs the number of inclusions and time intervals may vary). After turning off the power, the doctor must make sure that the convict is dead. In some US states and states, if death does not occur, the operation may continue. In the laws of others, a pardon is provided if the convict miraculously survived three switching on of the current for one minute. William Vandiver was killed only after the fifth discharge of current (October 16, 1985, Indiana (1001 deaths, A.P. Lavrin)).

Humanity of execution in the electric chair

The electric chair was introduced as a humane means of execution, allowing a criminal to be put to death without causing him unnecessary suffering. Supporters of this type of execution claim that it is painless - the electric current of the parameters used destroys the parts of the nervous system responsible for feeling and understanding pain in a time twenty to thirty times less than it takes for a person to feel pain. Opponents of the electric chair point out that these claims are the product of theoretical calculations, not proven fact.

In some cases, before the onset of death, it is necessary to pass a current through the body of the executed for several minutes or even longer. In this case, the executed person may experience spontaneous urination, defecation, vomiting, including blood, darkening and charring of the skin. There were precedents that the eyes of the executed person burst or went out of their sockets. The room smells of burnt flesh, and smoke may rise. Cases of fire are known (the hair on the head catches fire). In the event of a malfunction in the operation of the equipment or any violation of the rules of use, death may not occur immediately. On the other hand, according to American organizations that advocate for the abolition of death penalty, the number of such overlays when using the electric chair is still significantly less than with executions by lethal injection.

Story

The creation of the electric chair is associated with the name of Thomas Edison. In the 1900s in the United States, Edison, who organized the first direct current power supply system, actively competed with the new alternating current based power supply systems, which was called the war of currents. Edison convinced consumers of the shortcomings of the competitor's system, promoted the danger of such systems, including public experiments on killing animals with alternating current.

These events coincided with the discussion that began in the country about choosing a more humane method of the death penalty (until the 80s of the XIX century, hanging was mainly used in the USA. Every now and then, horrific scenes of too long and painful execution leaked into the press: even the most experienced the executioner sometimes could not foresee the nuances, and death did not come from a fracture of the vertebrae, as was supposed, but from strangulation, which is more painful.

The increasing use of electricity, of course, was accompanied by periodic accidents, as a result of which people died. In 1881, in Buffalo, New York, dentist Albert Southwick accidentally witnessed the death of an elderly drunk who touched the contacts. electric generator. Struck by how quickly and apparently painlessly death came, Southwick turned to a friend, Senator David McMillan, with a proposal to replace the rope with wires. He asked the New York State Legislature to consider the prospect of using electricity on death row to stop hanging. In 1886, a commission was set up to investigate the question "of the most humane and commendable method of carrying out the death penalty." At this stage, the famous Thomas Edison joined the history of the electric chair, so tenaciously that this chair, by analogy with the guillotine, could be called "Edisonina" (although the prison population of America calls him "yellow mother" or " old smokehouse"). Inventor arranged in West Orange (English) Russian (NJ) revealing experience: several cats and dogs were lured onto a metal plate energized with 1000 VAC. In 1888, the New York State Legislature passed a law establishing electrocution as the state's method of carrying out death sentences.

In the latter half of 1888, inventor Harold Brown and Columbia University employee Fred Peterson conducted research in the Edison Laboratories on the use of electricity for the death penalty. Within a few months, more than two dozen dogs were electrocuted, according to the results of the experiments, on December 12, 1888, the group presented a report to the New York State Forensic Society recommending an electric chair as an execution tool (other options were also considered, including a tank with water and a table with a rubber coating). On January 1, 1889, the Electric Execution Act went into effect in New York State.

The opponent of the electric chair was George Westinghouse, who had previously developed a system for supplying consumers with alternating current electricity, Edison's main competitor. After the introduction of the electric chair law, Westinghouse refused to supply alternating current generators to prisons, as a result of which Edison and Brown had to buy generators in a roundabout way.

The first people sentenced to death in the electric chair were William Kemmler and Joseph Chapleau (the first for the murder of his mistress, the second for the murder of a neighbor). Chapleau was pardoned and received a life sentence. Westinghouse also tried to save Kemmler, for which he hired lawyers who demanded an appeal against the verdict on the basis that the execution in the electric chair falls under the definition of "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution, but the appeals were rejected.

In 1890 Edwin Davies, an electrician at Auburn Jail, developed the first working model of the electric chair. On August 6, 1890, William Kemmler was the first person in the world to be executed in the electric chair at Auburn Prison. Although one of the reporters stated: “He didn’t hurt at all!”, In reality, the execution did not go quite smoothly: after the first turn on of the current, Kemmler was still alive, the current had to be turned on again. George Westinghouse commented on the execution with the words: "They would have done better with an ax" (Kemmler killed his mistress with an ax).

In 1896, the electric chair was introduced in Ohio, in 1898 in Massachusetts, in 1906 in New Jersey, in 1908 in Virginia, in 1910 in North Carolina. Over the next ten years, it was legalized in more than ten states and became the most popular execution tool in America. In just over a hundred years of use, more than 4,300 people have been executed in the electric chair.

Conceived as a means of discrediting AC power systems, the electric chair just failed to perform this function. Despite its appearance, the use of alternating current expanded. Later, Edison was forced to admit that he underestimated the benefits of alternating current. In 1912, Westinghouse was awarded the Edison Medal for his achievements in the development of this technology.

Outside USA

There are known cases of the use of home-made electric chairs as a tool of torture by various organized criminal groups at the PSP, in particular, the "slave owner" Alexander Komin from Vyatskiye Polyany used a home-made electric chair to kill one of his prisoners.

Famous people who were executed in the electric chair

William Kemmler William Kemmler) (, New York), the first person in the world to be executed in the electric chair; killed his mistress with an ax
Martha Place (English) Martha Place) (, New York), the first woman executed in the electric chair; was found guilty of murdering her 17-year-old stepdaughter (the girl was strangled by her stepmother)
Leon Czolgosz Leon Czolgosz) ( , New York), assassin of President McKinley
Chester Gillette (ur. Chester Gillette) ( , New York)
Arthur Hodges. Arthur Hodges) ( , Arkansas)
Charles Becker (ur. Charles Becker) ( , New York)
Sacco and Vanzetti Sacco and Vanzetti) ( , Massachusetts), executed on trumped-up charges, became a textbook example of politically motivated persecution.
Ruth Snyder Ruth Snyder) ( , New York)
Giuseppe Zangara (ur. Giuseppe Zangara) (, Florida), attempted on the life of President-elect F. Roosevelt and killed the mayor of Chicago
Albert Fish. Albert Fish) ( , New York
Bruno Hauptmann (ur. Bruno Hauptmann) (, New Jersey), found guilty of kidnapping and murdering the young son of Charles Lindbergh
Anna Maria Han Anna Marie Hahn) ( , Ohio
Herman and Paul Petrillo Herman and Paul Petrillo) ( , Pennsylvania)
Nazi Agents (Washington, DC)
Louis Lepke (ur. Louis Lepke) ( , New York)
Lena Baker (ur. Lena Baker) ()
Willie Francis Willie Francis) ( , Louisiana)
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Julius and Ethel Rosenberg) (, New York), executed for espionage - the transfer of information about the American nuclear bomb to Soviet agents. Previously, it was believed that their guilt was not fully proven. The now declassified materials of the Venona Project have proven Julius' involvement in espionage.
Martin, Rhonda Bell Rhonda Belle Martin) ( , Alabama), American serial killer
Charles Starkweather (ur. Charles Starkweather) ( , Nebraska), American serial killer
James French (ur. James French) ()
John Spenkelink John Spenkelink) (1979, Florida) - the first person executed in the electric chair after the abolition of the moratorium on the death penalty (he was convicted even before the moratorium was introduced).
Larry da Silva Larry da Silva) (1979) - his execution was featured in documentary Faces of death
John Louise Evans John Louis Evans) ( , Alabama)
Tad Bundy (English) Ted Bundy) ( , Florida , American serial killer)
Donald Gaskins Donald Henry Gaskins, Jr.(), American serial killer
John Joubert John Joubert (), Nebraska), American serial killer
Pedro Medina Pedro Medina) ( , Florida)
Gerald Stano (English) Gerald Eugene Stano) (), Florida - American serial killer (41 victims).
Buenoano, Judias Judia Buenoano) (, Florida) - American serial killer.
Allen Lee Davis Allen Lee Davis) ( , Florida)
Earl Conrad Bramblett Earl Conrad Bramblett) ( , Virginia)
James Neil Tucker James Neil Tucker) ( , South Carolina)
Brandon Headrick (ur. Brandon Hedrick) ( , Virginia)

In culture

In literature

In music

The execution in the electric chair was reflected in the song "Ride the Lightning" by Metallica and "Electrocution" by Sodom.
In the video for the song "Killed by Death" by Motorhead, the police electrocute frontman Lemmy, who at the end of the video comes to life and leaves own grave on a motorcycle.
The electric chair as an element of a stage show is used at concerts by American shock rocker Alice Cooper.
In Madonna's "Die Another Day" video, she is put in the electric chair, but she escapes; also on the Re-Invention World Tour, Madonna sang the song "Lament" in the electric chair.
The song "The Mercy Seat" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is written from the perspective of a man on death row. The title of the song refers both to God's throne and to the electric chair.
In the clip Nogu Svelo! "S.O.S in the Ass" events of some sort erotic game turn around the electric chair.
In Nike Borzov's video "The Last Song", he is executed in the electric chair.
In Philip Kirkorov's video "You Will Believe", the protagonist is put in an electric chair. One second before the power-on time, the execution is cancelled.
In the video for Eminem's song "We Made You" there is a scene where he is sentenced to death and the sentence is carried out. However, Eminem does not even feel discomfort.
Rage Against The Machine's "No Shelter" video features a mock electric chair execution of American anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti.

The electric chair is mentioned in the song "Fucking Police" by Metal Corrosion, as well as in "Song Without Words" by Kino.

To the cinema

In the film "Angels with Dirty Faces" one of the main characters of the film, Rocky, was executed in the electric chair.
In the movie "Sin City" one of the characters was also executed by means of an electric chair, while he was killed only after two attempts at execution.
In The Crow 3 Salvation, the protagonist, Alex Corvis, was executed in the electric chair. The main antagonist of the film also accepts death in the electric chair.
In the film "Monster's Ball", the artist was executed in the electric chair.
In the film "Constantine: Lord of Darkness" the hero of the film uses the electric chair of Sing Sing Prison to travel to hell.
The film The Green Mile shows the execution of a death sentence using the electric chair.
In the movie "Neither Dead nor Alive", a convict is brought to the reopened Alcatraz prison for execution in the electric chair.
In the movie "Death Man" (in the original - "Alive") main character was sentenced to death by electric chair, but survived.
In one of the episodes of the third season of the Quantum Leap series, called "The Last Dance Before Execution", Sam Beckett, the main character, becomes a criminal sentenced to be executed in the electric chair.
In the movie Passenger 57, the terrorist Charles Rein is sent by plane to Los Angeles for execution in the electric chair.
In the Escape series, the executions of Lincoln Burrows and the General.
In the horror film Electroshock (1989), the main villain was executed in a chair, but he survived using the electric shock to rise from the dead.
In the horror film Dead Man Walking (1936), a group of criminals kill a judge and frame John Ellman (Boris Karloff), who is accused of murder and sentenced to death in the electric chair. Later, two witnesses are found in his favor, but just at the moment when he finally manages to get through to the prison, the execution is carried out.
The film The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) ends with protagonist Ed Crane preparing to be executed by the electric chair.
The first episode of the first season of the series "Tales from the Crypt" (1989) tells about the prison executioner, who has become so fond of his electrical profession, which eventually ends up in the electric chair.
Toward the end of the film "Supercop", the protagonist is tried to be executed by means of an electric chair, but he, having superpowers, transfers the tension to the spectators of the execution and the executioner.
In The Lonely Hearts movie's finale, the murderous lovers (Salma Hayek and Jared Leto) are executed using the electric chair. The execution scene abounds large quantity physiological details and details of death in the electric chair.
The film The Faces of Death shows footage of the death penalty in the electric chair.

In computer games

In the first part of Unreal, the protagonist, wandering around a crashed space prison, can find a sentenced prisoner in an electric chair. After the ship crashes, the prisoner may already be dead, but the player has the ability to "finish him off" by activating the chair.

Who invented the electric chair? Carpenter, electrician, scientist - such options come to mind. You will probably be surprised to learn that this person's profession was different. In this article we will answer the question: who invented the electric chair? It requires detailed consideration, since the history associated with it is very curious. Thomas Edison invented the incandescent light bulb in the late 19th century. Of course, this person is not the one who invented the electric chair. However, this was the first step towards many discoveries related to electricity. This invention, in particular, allowed us to use it to illuminate cities.

An idea that came to Albert Southwick

Many are interested in the question: who was the creator of the new method of execution? Albert Southwick is believed to be the one who invented the electric chair. His profession is a dentist. This man was from Buffalo, New York. Whoever invented the electric chair (his profession, as you can see, is somewhat unexpected) believed that it could be used as a pain reliever in medical practice. Once Albert saw one of the inhabitants of Buffalo touch the bare wires. This man died, Southwick thought then, painlessly and almost instantly. This incident led him to the idea that the execution with the use of electricity could replace, as a faster and more humane punishment, the hanging used at that time. Southwick first suggested using electricity to dispose of unwanted animals instead of drowning them. Colonel Rockwell, head of the Society for the Protection of Animals from Cruelty, liked the idea.

Commission conclusion

Southwick in 1882 conducted a series of experiments on animals and published his results in scientific newspapers. It is Albert who is often credited with the invention of the electric chair. However, many people took part in its development. In particular, Southwick showed the results of his experiments to David Macmillan, a senator and his friend. He stated that the execution using electricity is painless, which is its main advantage. McMillian advocated the retention of the death penalty. This idea attracted him as an argument against its abolition. McMillian relayed what he heard to D. B. Hill, Governor of New York. In 1886, a special commission was set up, which included Southwick (the profession of the man who invented the electric chair - a dentist, as already mentioned), Eluridge Gerry (politician) and Matthew Hale (judge). Her conclusion, which was set out in a 95-page report, was that best method execution of the death sentence - execution with the use of electricity. The State was recommended in this report to replace the new kind execution by hanging.

death penalty law

In 1888, on June 5, the governor signed the corresponding law, which was supposed to come into force from 1889. It remained to decide which type of electric current should be used: alternating or direct. How are they different? Let's figure it out.

AC and DC

Scientists from various countries long before the invention of Thomas Edison. However, Edison (pictured below) for the first time put into practice the theory developed before him. In 1879 the first power plant was built. The Edison system ran on direct current. However, it only flows in one direction, so it was impossible to supply current to long distance. It was necessary to build power plants to provide the city medium size electricity.

The way out was found by Nikola Tesla, a Croatian scientist. He owns the idea of using alternating current, which can change its direction several times per second, while creating a magnetic field and without losing electrical voltage. You can step up or down the AC voltage using transformers. Such a current can be transmitted over long distances with small losses, after which it can be supplied to consumers through a step-down transformer.

Getting Started with AC

This system attracted investors, one of whom was George Westinghouse (pictured below).

He wanted to make the use of alternating current profitable, but Edison's technology was more popular at the time. It was for Edison that Tesla worked, but he did not pay attention to his developments, and Tesla quit. The scientist soon patented his ideas. Westinghouse bought 40 patents from Tesla in 1888, and more than a hundred cities used the alternating current system within a few years.

"Clash of the Titans"

In 1887, Edison began to discredit this system by requiring the collection of information from his workers on deaths caused by alternating current. So he hoped to prove that his method was safer for the population.

The "Clash of the Titans" began when the question arose of what type of current should be used for the death penalty. Nikola Tesla (pictured below) at the same time avoided any statements about Thomas and preferred to remain silent. But Thomas smashed Tesla with his usual categoricalness and enthusiasm. The "war of the currents" continued until 2007! In New York, only in the 21st century, the last wires were symbolically cut direct current. The entire network of America and the whole world was finally transferred to alternating current.

Pamphlet and speech by Edison

Since Edison did not want his invention to be associated in any way with death, he wanted alternating current to be used in an apparatus designed for the death penalty. The scientist in 1887 published the pamphlet "Warning". In it, he compared direct current with alternating current and pointed out the safety of the latter.

The speech before the commission of Thomas Edison made a strong impression. The inventor convinced all those present that when using alternating current, death from electricity is quick and painless. The commission to resolve this issue was faced with an alternative to the use of lethal injection, which is considered more humane than execution in the electric chair. It was in the 20th century that almost all states where the death penalty existed began to use it. Perhaps many would not have had to suffer in the electric chair if there were no competition between companies, as well as Thomas Edison's convincing speech before the commission. It was also a question that executions by lethal injection are carried out by doctors, which, for obvious reasons, is impossible.

First execution

In 1889, on January 1, the first execution took place using such an invention as an electric chair (its photo is presented below). The unit used for it was called the Westinghouse chair, or the Westinghouse chair, a few decades later. In the spring of 1891, the following executions took place. 4 people were executed for different crimes. The method of execution has been adjusted. Became more powerful generator and thicker wires. The 2nd electrode was connected to the arm and not to the spine. These executions went more smoothly, and a new method was adopted by public opinion.

Execution of William Kemmler

William Kemmler, who killed his civil wife with an ax, was the first "tester" of this innovation. He was executed in the city of Obernai in 1890, on August 6th. For well-known reasons, he could not describe his feelings. Whoever invented the electric chair could not have foreseen what happened. The witnesses who were present during the enforcement of the sentence noted that the offender was still alive 15-20 seconds after the 1st discharge. I had to turn on the current for a longer time and with a higher voltage. The "experiment" was still painfully and for a long time brought to an end. This execution caused a lot of protests of the world and American public.

Electric chair murder

Let us describe the technology of murder using the electric chair. The offender sits on it and is tied with leather straps to a chair, securing the chest, thighs, ankles and wrists. 2 copper electrodes are fixed on the body: one on the leg (for better conduction of electricity, the skin under it is shaved), and the other on the shaved crown. The electrodes are usually lubricated with a special gel in order to reduce skin burning and improve current conduction. An opaque mask is put on the face.

The executioner presses the switch button on the control panel, thereby giving the 1st charge, the voltage of which is from 1700 to 2400 volts, and the duration is approximately 30-60 seconds. The timer sets the time in advance and automatically turns off the current. The doctor, after two charges, examines the body of the criminal, because he may still not be killed. Death occurs as a result of respiratory paralysis and cardiac arrest.

improvement

However, modern executors have concluded that instantaneous cardiac arrest (i.e. clinical death) does not cause current to pass through the brain. It only prolongs the agony. Criminals are now slashed, and electrodes are inserted into the right thigh and left shoulder in order for the charge to pass through the heart and aorta.

Electric Chair - Cruel Punishment

Does it matter who invented the electric chair: a carpenter or an electrician? More importantly, this method of punishment is inhuman. Although all methods of execution are cruel to some extent, it is the electric chair that often causes tragic malfunctions that cause additional suffering for the condemned, especially in cases where the equipment used is in need of repair or is old. This led to this species the death penalty was recognized under the influence of Leo Jones, a well-known American human rights activist, as inapplicable, cruel punishment which is against the US Constitution.

Now you know who invented the electric chair. Dentist Albert Southwick, apparently, did not even suspect what fate was in store for the idea that had come into his head. Today, this method of execution has become one of the symbols of the United States. But the electric chair was invented by a dentist who just wanted to alleviate the suffering of the people.

Kruglova I.

The electric chair was invented 115 years ago, becoming another symbol of the United States.

The invention of the most humane punishment at that time was accompanied by a merger of many human vices. The inventors were guided in many respects by selfish goals, and not by the desire to alleviate suffering, improve the conditions of convicts and alleviate their lot. Intrigue, competition, slander, reproaches, science and business intertwined in the history of the invention of the new method.

At the end of the 19th century, Thomas Edison (below in the photo) invented the incandescent lamp, which was a truly great invention that made it possible to use electricity to light cities.

A dentist in Buffalo, New York named Albert Southwick thought that electricity could be used in his medical practice as a pain reliever. One day, Southwick saw one of the Buffalo residents touch the exposed wires of an electric generator at the city's power plant and die, Southwick thought, almost instantly and painlessly. This incident led him to the idea that the execution using electricity could replace hanging as a more humane and quick punishment. First, Southwick spoke with the head of the Society for the Protection of Animals from Cruelty, Colonel Rockwell, suggesting the use of electricity to get rid of unwanted animals instead of drowning them (a method traditionally used). Rockwell liked this idea. In 1882, Southwick began experimenting on animals, publishing his results in scientific papers. Southwick then showed the results to his influential friend, Senator David McMillan. Southwick stated that the main advantage of electrocution was that it was painless and quick. Macmillan was committed to retaining the death penalty; he was attracted by this idea as an argument against the abolition of the death penalty, because this type of execution cannot be called cruel and inhumane, therefore, supporters of the abolition of the death penalty will lose their most compelling arguments. Macmillan relayed what he heard to New York Governor David Bennett Hill. In 1886, the "Law for the establishment of a commission to investigate and present an opinion on the most humane and acceptable method of carrying out the death sentence" is passed. The commission included Southwick, Judge Matthew Hale and politician Eluridge Gerry. The conclusion of the commission, set out on ninety-five pages of the report, was as follows: the best method of carrying out the death penalty is execution by electricity. The report recommended that the state replace hanging with a new type of execution.

Governor Hill signs the law on June 5, 1888, which was to take effect on January 1, 1889, and begin a new, humane punishment in the state of New York.

It remained to decide the question concerning the apparatus for carrying out the sentence and the question of what type of electric current should be used: direct or alternating.

It is worth considering the history associated with alternating and direct currents. How do they differ, and which current is more suitable for execution?

Long before the invention of Thomas Edison, scientists from different countries have worked on this subject, but no one has succeeded in using electricity in Everyday life. Edison put into practice the theory developed before him. Edison's first power station was built in 1879; almost immediately, representatives from different US cities went to the scientist. Edison's DC system had its difficulties. Direct current flows in one direction. Direct current supply is not possible over a long distance, it was necessary to build power plants, even to provide electricity to a medium-sized city.

The way out was found by the Croatian scientist Nikola Tesla (on the right in the photo). He developed the idea of using alternating current. Alternating current can change direction several times per second, creating a magnetic field without losing electrical voltage. AC voltage can be stepped up and down using transformers. High voltage current can be transmitted over long distances with little loss, and then, through a step-down transformer, bring electricity to consumers. Some cities used an alternating current system (but not designed by Tesla), and this system attracted investors. One such investor was George Westinghouse, famous for his invention of the airbrake. Westinghouse intended to make the use of AC profitable, but Edison's DC technology was more popular at the time. Tesla worked for Edison, but he did not pay attention to his developments, and Tesla quit. He soon patented his ideas and was able to demonstrate them in action. In 1888, Westinghouse bought forty patents from Tesla, and within a few years over a hundred cities were using the alternating current system. Edison's enterprise began to lose ground.

It became obvious that the AC system would replace the DC system. However, Edison did not believe this. In 1887, he began to discredit the Westinghouse system by requiring his employees to collect information on deaths caused by alternating current, in the hope of proving that his system was safer for the public. (Left: Westinghouse photograph)

The battle of the titans, as this story is sometimes called, began when the question arose about the type of current that was to be used in the death penalty apparatus. Edison did not want his invention to be associated with death, he wanted alternating current to be used in the death penalty machine.

On June 5, 1888, the New York Evening Post published a letter from Harold Brown that warned of the dangers of alternating current. This letter caused an alarmed reaction in the society. In the 1870s, Brown was an employee of Edison, and it can be assumed that this letter was registered. In 1888, Brown conducted a series of experiments on animals, demonstrating the destructive power of alternating current. Two second-hand alternators were used in the experiments, since Westinghouse refused to sell his generators. Experiments were carried out on several dozen dogs, cats, and two horses.

The speech of the respected scientist Thomas Edison before the commission on the decision of the method of execution made a vivid impression. The legendary inventor convinced everyone present that death with the use of electricity is painless and quick, of course, in the case of using alternating current. The commission had the option of introducing execution by lethal injection. Lethal injection is considered more humane than the electric chair. In the 20th century, almost all states that have the death penalty began to use it. Maybe many wouldn't suffer in the electric chair if there wasn't competition between campaigns or Edison's persuasive speech to the commission, though main question was that execution by lethal injection should be carried out with the help of doctors or by the doctors themselves, which is impossible for obvious reasons.

Various methods of killing were supposed, for example, on a table or in a bathtub with water. Harold Brown suggested placing the condemned on a chair by attaching electrodes to the condemned's body. Brown and became the developer-engineer of the electric chair. In the midst of the struggle between Edison and Westinghouse, the law "on electric executions”, which came into force on January 1, 1889, which was supposed to establish the only method of execution - killing by using electric current.

By January 1, 1889, the first electric chair was ready. This invention was considered a breakthrough in the humanization of the death penalty. No one had yet guessed that this invention would usher in an era of struggle for the rights of a person sentenced to death.

Sources:

Belash V. "The most humane chair in the world". Businessman Power. August 1, 2005
MacLeod M. Electrocution. Electricity. http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/not_guilty/chair/2.html
Dr. Richard Moran. The Strange Origins of the Electric Chair. Aug. 5, 1990 BostonGlobe. Appendix Part B in John N. Miskell's monograph on Auburn Prison's electrocutions http://www.correctionhistory.org/auburn&osborne/miskell/html/auburnchair_moran.html
American electric chairs http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/Electric%20Chairs/Americas%20Electric%20Chairs.htm
Mystery electric chair http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/mystery_electric_chair.htm

Relatively recently, in the United States, criminals sentenced to death were sent to the electric chair. But in last years such a "high-tech" method of execution was practically abandoned. What is the reason?

Who invented the electric chair

Execution in the electric chair began at the end of the 19th century. A "progressive" society has decided that executions such as burning at the stake, hanging, and beheading are inhumane. The criminal should not suffer additionally in the process of execution: after all, he is already being deprived of the most precious thing - his life.

According to the official version, an incident in 1881 served as the impetus for this invention. Dentist Albert Southwick of Buffalo, New York, once witnessed a old man died by accidentally touching the contacts of an electric generator. It occurred to Southwick that such a death could be quick and painless. He first suggested using electricity to get rid of unwanted animals such as kittens or puppies. This method of killing seemed to him more humane than, say, practiced drowning. The idea was also liked by the head of the Society for the Protection of Animals from Cruelty, Colonel Rockwell.

Southwick began experimenting with killing animals with electricity.

He published the results of his experiments in scientific publications, and then showed these articles to his friend, Senator David Macmillan. He turned to D.B. Hill, Governor of New York. In 1886, a special commission was created, whose task was to study the question "of the most humane and commendable method of carrying out death sentences." Southwick also joined the commission.

The inventor of electricity himself, the famous Thomas Edison, undertook to conduct official tests. In West Orange, New Jersey, they staged a demonstrative experiment on cats and dogs. They were placed on a metal plate under a voltage of 1000 volts, as a result of which the animals died. In 1888, inventor Harold Brown and Columbia University employee Fred Peterson tested the equipment at Edison Laboratories, electrocuting more than two dozen dogs over the course of several months. On January 1, 1889, the earlier "Electric Execution Law" was enacted in the state of New York.

First operating model The electric chair was developed in 1890 by an ordinary electrician named Edwin Davis, an employee of the prison in the city of Auburn.

Operating principle

The essence of the execution is this. The convict is shaved head and calf on one leg. Then the torso and arms are firmly tied with straps to a chair made of dielectric material with a high back and armrests. Legs are fixed with special clamps. At first, the criminals were blindfolded, then they began to put a hood on their heads, and more recently, a special mask. One electrode is attached to the head, on which the helmet is put on, the other to the leg. The executioner turns on the switch button, which passes through the body an alternating current with a power of up to 5 amperes and a voltage of 1700 to 2400 volts. An execution usually takes about two minutes. Two discharges are given, each is switched on for one minute, the interval between them is 10 seconds. The first discharge destroys the brain and central nervous system, the second leads to complete cardiac arrest. Death must be recorded by a doctor.

Cruel and unusual punishment

Not everyone approved of the innovation. So, Edison's main competitor, George Westinghouse, who supplied consumers electrical equipment, refused to supply prisons with electric current generators, considering this method of execution inhumane.

For the first time in the electric chair was executed on August 6, 1890 in the Auburn prison of the US state of New York, William Kemmler, convicted of the murder of his mistress Tilly Zeigler. Westinghouse tried to save the man, even hiring lawyers for him to appeal the sentence on the grounds that electrocution was a cruel and unusual punishment and should therefore be prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution. But it did not help. The sentence was carried out. Tellingly, the executioner did not die immediately, he had to turn on the switch again. Westinghouse commented, "They would have done better with an axe."

Up to now, more than four thousand people have been executed in this way in the United States. One of them was Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of US President McKinley. A similar type of execution was used in the Philippines.

The communist spouses Julius and Ethel Rosenberg ended their lives in the electric chair, accused of working for Soviet intelligence and transferring American nuclear secrets to it. In particular, they allegedly handed over to the Soviets a drawing atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Prominent public figures stood up to protect the Rosenberg family - among them the famous physicist Albert Einstein, the writer Thomas Mann and even Pope Pius XII. But all petitions for clemency were rejected, and in 1953 US President Dwight Eisenhower approved the death sentence. To this day, there are people who express doubt about the guilt of the Rosenbergs: the evidence against them was allegedly fabricated by the CIA - perhaps to gain an advantage over the USSR in the Cold War.

"Let me breathe!"

It was assumed that when an electric current was passed through the body, a person would die immediately. But this did not always happen. Often, eyewitnesses had to observe how people put in an electric chair convulsed, bit their tongues, foam came out of their mouths, blood came out of their sockets, their eyes popped out of their sockets, involuntary emptying of the intestines and bladder occurred ... Some screamed during the execution. Almost always, after applying the discharge, a light smoke began to go from the skin and hair of the convict. There have also been cases when a person sitting in an electric chair caught fire and exploded in the head. Quite often, the burnt skin "glued" to the belts and the seat. The bodies of the executed turned out, as a rule, so hot that it was impossible to touch them, and then the smell of burnt meat lingered in the room for a long time.

One of the protocols describes an episode when a convict was exposed to a discharge of 2450 volts for 15 seconds, but a quarter of an hour after the procedure, he was still alive. As a result, the execution had to be repeated three times until the offender died.

In 1985, in Indiana, a certain William Vandiver was electrocuted five times. It took 17 minutes to kill him.

According to experts, when exposed to such high voltage, the human body is literally fried alive. Here is the memoir of one of the survivors: “There was a taste of cold peanut butter in my mouth. I felt my head and left leg burning, so I tried my best to break free of the bonds.” 17-year-old Willie Francis, who sat in the electric chair in 1947, shouted: “Turn it off! Let me breathe!"

Repeatedly, the execution turned out to be painful as a result of various failures and malfunctions. So, on May 4, 1990, when the criminal Jesse D. Tafero was executed, a gasket under the helmet caught fire, the convict received third and fourth degree burns. In 1991, during the execution, one of the criminals kicked his legs against a chair so much that he broke them.

The story of the murderer of the whole family, Allen Lee Davis, caused a great resonance. In the end, he suffocated.

Electric chair or injection?

It soon became clear that the "humane" execution often turns into torture, and its use was limited. True, some people believe that the whole point is not at all in humanity, but in the high cost of the procedure.

Currently, electric chair execution is used in six US states - Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. Moreover, the convict is offered a choice of electric chair or lethal injection. In some states, shooting, hanging, and gas chambers are also practiced as an alternative.

The last execution in the electric chair took place on January 16, 2013 in Virginia. This measure was applied to Robert Gleason, who, by the way, deliberately killed two cellmates so that his life sentence would be commuted to a death sentence.