Rites of execution : capital punishment and the transformation of American culture, 1776-1865 / Louis P. Masur.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Masur, Louis P.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Capital punishment--United States--History.

Capital punishment.

Executions and executioners--United States--History.

Executions and executioners.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (208 pages) : illustrations (black and white)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 1991, c1989.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Louis Masur's account describes how, in the 1830's, public hangings were abandoned in favour of executions in the seclusion of prison yards. Masur sees attitudes toward state killing from the Revolution to the Civil War as reflecting the nation's social thinking.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Introduction

1. Ritual and Reform in Antebellum America

2. The Design of Public Executions in the Early American Republic

3. The Opposition to Capital Punishment in Post-Revolutionary America

4. The Dream of Reformation and the Limits of Reform

5. The Origins of Private Executions in America

6. Anti-Gallows Activists and the Commitment to Moral Reform

7. The Conflict over Capital Punishment in Antebellum America

Epilogue

Notes

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-197) and index.

Description based on metadata supplied by the publisher and other sources.

ISBN:

1-4237-3694-X

1-60129-795-5

1-280-52542-8

0-19-802158-5

OCLC:

475956100

Publisher Number:

2027/heb05202 hdl