Whenever I hear of an execution in history on TV or in a podcast, it always seemed like a bit of a spectacle. Something you could even bring your family to. Was it always like this? Was there resistance to this idea? Anyone who thought that it was wrong to have public executions?
The initial reason for public executions- as well as any cruel and unusual punishment- was that it was supposed to impress upon all, especially criminals, the awful consequences of crime. Displaying the bodies, or even just heads, of convicted criminals was thought to do the same. There was also a sense of retribution- that the people needed to see a criminal pay for his crime.
For England, by the later 18th century it was noticed by many that police ( a rather recent invention) reduced crime better than the threat of awful punishments: and slowly punishments became more rational. It was also noticed by reformers that public executions were often celebratory affairs, with people whooping and cheering the criminal, or threatening the guards. And they were sometimes so popular that there were disasters- on a few occasions of very notorious criminals being hanged, there was such a huge crowd and crush that dozens of spectators were killed, suffocated or crushed. In short, they weren't presenting citizens with a sobering example, they were entertaining them with violence. Between these two developments ( and with the establishment of Australia's Botany Bay colony making transportation another punishment in the later 18th c.) hangings became less common and less public. Hanging offenses were greatly reduced in 1861, and the last public one was in1868.
hi! you may be interested in these earlier related posts about public execution, which focus particularly on public attitudes
Why did we used to be so fine with such brutal and public executions? - featuring /u/Talleyrayand
During medieval times public torture and execution was commonplace, how did this effect the general population, did they become desensitized to gruesome death? - featuring /u/idjet
What is this wheel on a pole with corpse that I see occasionally in medieval/renaissance art? - featuring /u/idjet and /u/Whoosier
How were executioners viewed by society in late medieval and early modern Europe? - featuring /u/Arab-Jesus
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