The principle of operation of the electric chair. How a Compassionate Dentist Invented the "Electric Chair"

And who invented this humane instrument of death

The electric chair was invented by Thomas Edison. He is the author of numerous major inventions: during the life of Edison, the US Patent Office issued him 1093 patents for such things as, for example, an electric vote meter in elections (1868), a carbon telephone membrane (1870), an incandescent lamp with a carbon filament (1879) and so on. However, here we will talk about electric chair, patented in 1890.

What is it? We have often seen American films where a prisoner is sentenced to death penalty through the electric chair, but have we ever thought about how this infernal machine works?

An electric chair is a chair made of dielectric (i.e., non-conductive) material with armrests and high back, equipped with belts for rigid fixation of the sentenced. The hands of the sentenced are fastened on the armrests, the legs - in special leg clamps. 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 V is applied to the contacts.

The chair is equipped with two switches, which are turned on simultaneously by different executioners, and in reality the current turns on only one of them. This procedure is used so that no one, including the executors themselves, could know who actually carried out the execution (apparently, this helped to save the executors of the sentence from remorse).

By the way, in some states there is a decree that if a person endures three sessions of "electrotherapy" in a row, then he is released into the wild. Believe it or not, there were some, although, of course, the vast majority of those sentenced died after the first inclusion.

The electric chair was introduced on August 6, 1890 as a humane means of execution, allowing the criminal to be killed without causing him unnecessary suffering. Those who advocate this type of execution claim that it is painless, however, you must admit, it is difficult to verify this.

Currently, the electric chair is used in six states - in Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia at the choice of the convict along with lethal injection.

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 gets into the 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 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. Death, which should occur from cardiac arrest, is mandatory recorded by the doctor.

First this method The 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, to whom not only his mouth (instead of a gag), but also his nose was sealed with a leather tape before execution. 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 ...

The United States, a country of democratic freedoms and the world's main bulwark of human rights, has constantly sought to make life and death easier for its citizens. So, 115 years ago in this state appeared the new kind killing criminals - the electric chair.

"humane" type of execution

Whatever the statistics say, there has always been a large percentage of especially dangerous criminals in the United States. Perhaps the fault is the contingent that historically flooded new uncharted lands - adventurers, robbers and treasure hunters. Such people were rarely stopped by moral principles; they were not afraid of killing their neighbor either. Perhaps it was the knowledge of their history that made US senators so zealously advocate the death penalty. Of course, there was a period in the history of the States when a moratorium was imposed on the execution of criminals, but it did not last long - from 1972 to 1976. Today, execution in this country is allowed in 33 states, 7 of them still use the electric chair.

Before its invention, hanging was used in the USA. Prisoners were not always "lucky". If the cervical vertebrae broke, then death was relatively painless. Quite often, such a gift of fate did not happen, and the person died of suffocation, which was considered absolutely inhumane.

Albert Southwick and his "humanism"

Many ordinary people believe that this type of execution was invented by a madman, but in fact it is not. The opinions of historians on this issue are ambiguous. Who invented the electric chair? Edison, Brown or Southwick?

The idea of ​​electrocution belongs to the dentist Albert Southwick. Once he saw how a drunkard stepped on bare wires and died instantly. It seemed to Mr. Southwick that the man's death was instantaneous and painless. He spoke about his idea to the head of the Society for the Protection of Animals from Cruelty, Colonel Rockwell. The dentist proposed to kill sick animals with electric current, and not to drown them. Rockwell liked the idea, and the following month Southwick began experimenting on animals.

He published his observations in a scientific journal. After a certain number of experiments, he turned to his friend - Senator David McMillan - with a proposal to use the current as a tool for the death penalty. Macmillan was a supporter of this procedure, and when he heard that the current was less painful, he unconditionally agreed to submit the papers to the Senate in order to approve the procedure. In 1886, the law "On the study of the most humane kind On June 5, 1888, they signed a document "On the introduction of a new humane form of execution in the state of New York."

Which current is more efficient?

Humanists immediately faced the question of how to design the perfect electric chair. The law was passed, but the apparatus was not ready. In addition, the researchers did not know what kind of current to use: direct or alternating.

Direct current was the brainchild of Thomas Edison, alternating current - Nikola Tesla. The battle of the titans began between scientists, or rather, between Edison and Westinghouse, the investor who bought the patents for Tesla's invention. Addison did not want his invention to become a symbol of the death penalty, so he made every effort to discredit Tesla's methodology and convince the commission that studied death by electricity that alternating current kills more painlessly and quickly than direct current.

Development of an execution device

The issue was resolved, alternating current defeated lethal injection. Discussions began on how the procedure should proceed. After much discussion, engineer Harold Brown suggested that the prisoner be placed on a chair and electrodes attached to his body. It is to him that the electric chair owes its appearance. On January 1, 1889, the law on execution using such a device came into force. By the above date, the first electric chair was already ready.

Operating principle

Execution in the electric chair was supposed to reduce the torment of the criminal, reduce pain. The developers of the device cut out a massive wooden chair, brought electrodes to it. One of them at the end with a wet washcloth was attached to the convict's head, the other was planned to be brought to the spine. The electrodes were soaked in saline beforehand. The electric chair voltage was 2000 volts. The legs and arms of the offender had to be rigidly fixed with straps. The current was supplied by a generator.

This technique was later improved. Now the wires are brought to the ankles and to the head. The voltage is 2700 volts.

First execution

The first execution on the Westinghouse apparatus, and this is what this device was called for some time, took place on the scheduled date - August 6, 1890. The first person to be intentionally electrocuted was a Buffalo merchant, William Kemmler. In a fit of jealousy and a drunken stupor, he hacked his wife to death with an axe. The candidate was excellent, and they decided to test the electric chair on him. The prison guard was visibly nervous and could not cope with the trembling in his hands, which made it impossible to properly fasten the belts. Kemmler was even indignant and asked the warden to calm down. The switch was lowered by Edwin Davis. If we talk about who invented the electric chair, in terms of who designed it, then it was Mr. Davis. He was immediately given the nickname "Electrician of the State".

Tension ran through the wires, all those gathered began to enthusiastically exclaim that they had entered the era of humanity. But to the surprise of the witnesses, the perpetrator did not die. Then the current was given again, but the generators needed time to charge. During these few minutes, Kemmler groaned and gasped. The current was given again, the head of the criminal began to smoke, and he finally gave up his last breath. Some of those present noted that it would be faster with an ax.

Opponents of the electric chair

After the first killing of a person by electric current, it became clear that the method was not only not finalized - it was brutal and cruel. The first opponent of electric shock was John Westinghouse, but he hardly thought about the humanity of the issue. The entrepreneur did not want AC to be used. Supporters of this type of execution immediately rushed to refine their device, and opponents began to sound the alarm. Did the developers of this murder weapon know that their apparatus would be the impetus for the emergence of human rights organizations and fighters for human rights? It was those executed in the electric chair that became the reason for the formation of a movement against killing in this way. In the 20th century, the abolitionist movement began in the United States, and the search for a humane instrument of the death penalty continues to this day.

Today, electric chair execution is used only in the state of Virginia, in seven other states this type of execution is allowed. The lethal injection supplanted this "humane" device over time.

Invented for humane reasons, the electric chair turned out to be one of the most cruel methods of the death penalty.

War of the currents

On August 6, 1890, mankind entered new page into your history. Scientific and technological progress has reached such a specific kind of activity as the execution of death sentences. In the United States of America, the first death penalty was carried out in the "electric chair".
The electric chair indirectly owes its appearance to the famous inventor Thomas Edison. In the 1880s, the "war of currents" broke out in the United States - the struggle between the power supply systems for direct and alternating current. Edison was an adept of direct current systems, Nikola Tesla was an adept of alternating current systems.
Edison, trying to tip the scales in his favor, pointed out the extreme danger of systems alternating current. For clarity, the inventor sometimes demonstrated eerie experiments, killing animals with alternating current.
In American society at the end of the 19th century, literally in love with electricity, the issue of humanizing the death penalty was simultaneously discussed. Many believed that hanging was too much atrocity, which should be replaced by a more humane way of killing.
It is not surprising that the idea of ​​the death penalty by means of electricity has become extremely popular.

Observant dentist

First, the thought of electric car death" came to the mind of the American dentist Albert Southwick. Once, in front of his eyes, a middle-aged drunkard touched the contacts electric generator. The unfortunate man's death was instantaneous.
Southwick, who witnessed the scene, shared his observation with his patient and friend David Macmillan.
Mr. Macmillan was a senator and, considering Southwick's proposal sensible, he turned to the New York State Legislature with an initiative to introduce a new, "progressive" method of execution.
The discussion of the initiative lasted about two years, and the number of supporters of the new method of execution was constantly growing. Among those who were both hands "for" was Thomas Edison.
In 1888, a series of additional experiments on the killing of animals was carried out in Edison's laboratories, after which the authorities received a positive conclusion from experts on the possibility of using the "electric chair" for the death penalty. On January 1, 1889, the Electric Execution Act went into effect in New York State.
Supporters of the use of alternating current in everyday life strongly opposed its use for murder purposes, but were powerless.
In 1890 Edwin Davis, an electrician at Auburn Prison, built the first operating model new "death machine".

Humane theory

The humanity of the execution, according to the supporters of the invention, was that the electric current rapidly destroys the brain and nervous system condemned, thus relieving him of his suffering. The victim loses consciousness in thousandths of a second, and the pain simply does not have time to reach the brain during this time.
The "electric chair" itself is a chair made of dielectric material with armrests and a high back, equipped with straps for rigid fixation of the sentenced. 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. The current limiting system is designed so that the body of the condemned does not catch fire during the execution.
After the sentenced person is seated on a chair and fixed, a helmet is put on his head. Before this, the hair on the crown is shaved. The eyes are either sealed with a plaster, or simply put on a black hood over the head. A sponge impregnated with saline solution 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 executed.
Then the current is turned on, which is supplied twice for one minute with a break of 10 seconds. It is believed that by the time the second minute expires, the condemned must be dead.
Critics of the "electric chair" from the very beginning pointed out that all the arguments about his humanity are purely theoretical, and in practice everything can turn out quite differently.

First "client"

There were two candidates for going down in history as the first victim of the electric chair - Joseph Chapleau, who killed a neighbor, and William Kemmler, who killed his mistress with an ax.
As a result, Chapleau's lawyers achieved a pardon, and Kemmler got the "honor" to try out the new invention on himself.
By the time of his execution, William Kemmler was 30 years old. His parents were emigrants from Germany, who were not built in America new life, but tritely drank themselves and died, leaving their son an orphan.
A difficult childhood also affected later life, which Kemmler did not spoil. In the spring of 1889, after a quarrel with his mistress Tilly Ziegler, a man killed her with an ax blow.
The court sentenced Kemmler to death, which was to be carried out in the electric chair.
Lawyers, referring to the US Constitution, which prohibits "cruel and unusual punishments”, tried to have the court decision overturned, but their appeal was rejected.
August 6, 1890, at 6 o'clock in the morning, in the Auburn prison, the first electric shock ran through the body of William Kemmler.

Fried Facts

Everything went wrong, as described by theorists. Kemmler's body convulsed so violently that the prison doctor, confused by what he saw, gave the command to turn off the current in less than 20 seconds, and not in a minute, as planned. At first it seemed that Kemmler was dead, but then he began to take convulsive sighs and moan. For a new attempt to kill, it took time to recharge the device. Finally, the current was given a second time, this time for one minute. Kemmler's body began to smoke, and the smell of burnt meat spread throughout the room. After a minute, the doctor stated that the convict was dead.
The opinion of the witnesses, who were more than twenty people, turned out to be extremely unanimous - the killing of Kemmler looked extremely disgusting. One reporter wrote that the condemned man was literally "roasted to death."
The external impression of the journalist was not so deceptive. Forensic doctors who worked with the bodies of those executed in the "electric chair" said that the brain, which is exposed to the strongest current, is practically welded.
Despite the negative impressions of witnesses to the execution of William Kemmler, the "electric chair" began to rapidly gain popularity. By the end of the first decade of the 20th century, it had become the most popular form of capital punishment in the United States.

Executed at will

Abroad, however, this kind of execution has not received wide distribution. And in the United States itself in the 1970s, the "electric chair" gradually began to be replaced by lethal injection.
Over 4,300 people have been executed in the history of the electric chair.
Currently, execution in the "electric chair" is officially maintained in eight states. However, in practice, this execution is resorted to less and less, including due to technical difficulties. The newest "models" of these "death machines" are over thirty years old, and some are already over 70, so they often fail during executions.
In a number of US states there is a rule according to which the offender himself can choose the method of execution. This is exactly what 42-year-old Robert Gleason, who was executed in Virginia in January 2013, did. Sentenced in 2007 to life imprisonment for the murder of an FBI agent, Gleason dealt with two of his cellmates in prison, explaining his actions with a desire to get ... into the "electric chair". Moreover, the criminal promised to continue to kill cellmates if he was not given such an opportunity. As a result, Robert Gleason got his way, becoming, perhaps, one of the last "clients" in the history of the "electric chair".

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: best method The execution of the death sentence is an execution using 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. DC supply is not possible on long distance, had 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 warning 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