The electric chair was used for capital punishment in the US, but its use has declined in favor of lethal injection. It was invented as a humane alternative to hanging, and was used in a campaign against AC electricity. New York was the first state to use it, and William Kemmler was the first person to be executed in it. Martha Place was the first woman to be executed in it. Many states and countries have banned capital punishment and the electric chair.
The electric chair is a device used to carry out capital punishment. When the device is used, a person is strapped into a specially constructed wooden chair and electrodes are attached to his or her body. These electrodes carry the powerful current that kills the person. For much of the 20th century, electrocution was the preferred method of execution in the United States, but by the early 21st century, its use had sharply declined in favor of lethal injection.
Alfred P. Southwick is credited with the idea of an electric chair as a humane alternative to hanging. At that time, during the 1800s, nooses were often poorly tied and individuals slowly strangled at the end of the rope. Southwick hoped that his device would provide a quicker and more orderly death.
During this time, George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison were fighting for control of electric utilities. Edison sought to use the electric chair as proof that Westinghouse’s plans, which involved alternating current (AC) as used in the electric chair, were inherently dangerous and his direct current (DC) design was safer. Despite this campaign, Westinghouse’s AC design was less expensive to implement because large quantities of expensive copper were needed for the DC design.
In 1889, New York became the first state in the United States to legislate the use of the electric chair. After this law was passed, the state needed three electric chairs, one for each facility that conducted executions. Electrician Harold Brown was commissioned to build these chairs. Westinghouse, still trying to promote its AC designs as safe, refused to sell the requested generators, and Brown had to buy secondhand models.
On August 6, 1890, convicted murderer William Kemmler became the first man to die in the electric chair. After an initial 17-second shock, Kemmler spasmed, still showing signs of life. He received another shock lasting over a minute before being pronounced dead.
Martha Place became the first woman to be executed by electrocution. She died in New York’s Sing Sing Jail on March 20, 1899. Before the turn of the 20th century, 20 other women would be executed by electrocution.
Although the US Supreme Court has ruled that capital punishment is legal under the US Constitution, it is not legal in many states, and many states have banned the use of the electric chair. Similarly, many countries have made capital punishment illegal or banned the use of the electric chair.
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