Who invented the electric chair? Carpenter, electrician, scientist - such options come to mind. You will probably be surprised when you find out 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 story associated with it is very curious. Thomas Edison invented an incandescent lamp at the end of the 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 a native of New York City, Buffalo. The one who invented the electric chair (his profession, as you see, is somewhat unexpected), believed that it can be used as an anesthetic in medical practice. One day, Albert saw one of the inhabitants of Buffalo touching 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 unnecessary animals, instead of drowning them. Colonel Rockwell, head of the Society for the Protection of Animals from Cruelty, liked this 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 considered the one who invented the electric chair. However, many people took part in its development. In particular, Southwick showed the results of his experiments to David Macmillan, the senator and his friend. He said that the execution using electricity is painless, which is its main advantage. Macmillian advocated maintaining the death penalty. This idea attracted him as an argument against its cancellation. Heard Macmillian conveyed to D. B. Hill, Governor of New York. In 1886, a special commission was created, which included Southwick (the profession of the person who invented the electric chair is a dentist, as already mentioned), Eluridge Jerry (politician) and Matthew Hale (judge). Her conclusion, which was set out on 95 pages of the report, stated that the best method of executing the death sentence was the use of electricity. The state was recommended to replace the hanging with a new type of execution in this report.
Death penalty law
In 1888, on June 5, the corresponding law was signed by the governor, which was to enter into force in 1889. It remained to decide whether to use the type of electric current: alternating or direct. How do they differ? Let's figure it out.
Alternating and direct current
Scientists from various countries worked on this issue long before the invention made by Thomas Edison. However, Edison (pictured below) first put into practice the theory developed before him. In 1879, the first power station was built. Edison's system was powered by direct current. However, it flows in only one direction, so it was impossible to supply current over a long distance. It was necessary to build power plants to provide a medium-sized city with electricity.
The way out was found by Nikola Tesla, a Croatian scientist. He belongs to the idea of using alternating current, which can change its direction several times per second, while creating a magnetic field and not losing electrical voltage. It is possible to lower or increase alternating voltage using transformers. Such current can be transmitted over long distances with small losses, after which electricity can be brought to consumers through a step-down transformer.
Start using AC
This system attracted investors, one of which was George Westinghouse (pictured below).
He wanted to make AC use profitable , but Edison's technology was more popular at the time. It was Tesla who worked on Edison, but he did not pay attention to his development, and Tesla quit. The scientist soon patented his ideas. Westinghouse in 1888 bought 40 patents from Tesla, and more than a hundred cities in a few years used the AC system.
"Clash of the Titans"
In 1887, Edison began to discredit this system, demanding the collection of information from his employees about death 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) while avoiding any remarks about Thomas and preferred to remain silent. But Thomas smashed Tesla with his inherent peremptory and dedication. The Current War lasted until 2007! In New York, it was only in the 21st century that the last DC wires were symbolically cut. The entire network of America and the whole world was finally transferred to alternating current.
Edison Brochure & Speech
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. In 1887, the scientist published the booklet Warning. In it, he compared direct current with alternating current and indicated the safety of the latter.
Speech before the commission of Thomas Edison made a strong impression. The inventor convinced everyone present that when using alternating current, death from electricity is quick and painless. The Commission to address this issue faced an alternative to the use of lethal injection, which is considered more humane than electrocution. It was in the 20th century that almost all states where the death penalty existed began to use it. Perhaps many would not have to suffer in an electric chair, if there were no competition between the companies, as well as Thomas Edison's convincing speech before the commission. The issue was also that the execution by lethal injection is carried out by doctors, which is impossible for obvious reasons.
First execution
In 1889, on January 1, the first execution took place using such an invention as an electric chair (a photo of it is presented below). The unit used for it was called the Westing Chair, or Westinghouse Chair, a few decades later. In the spring of 1891, the following executions took place. For various crimes, 4 people were executed. The method of enforcement of the sentence has been adjusted. The generator has become more powerful 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.
The Execution of William Kemmler
William Kemmler, who killed his common-law wife with an ax, was the first "test" of this innovation. He was executed in the city of Obernai in 1890, on August 6. For some reason he could not describe his feelings. The one who invented the electric chair could not have foreseen what had happened. 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 long brought to the end. Many protests of the world and American public caused this execution.
Electric chair killing
We describe the technology of murder using an electric chair. The offender sits on him and is tied with leather straps to a chair, securing his chest, hips, ankles and wrists. Two copper electrodes are fixed on the body: one on the leg (for better conductivity of electricity, the skin underneath is shaved), and the other on the shaved top. The electrodes are usually lubricated with a special gel in order to reduce burning of the skin and improve the conductivity. An opaque mask is worn on the face.
The executioner presses the switch button on the control panel, thereby supplying the 1st charge, the voltage of which is from 1700 to 2400 volts, and the duration is about 30-60 seconds. The timer is pre-set time, and the current is automatically turned off. After two charges, the doctor examines the body of the criminal, because he may still not be killed. As a result of respiratory paralysis and cardiac arrest, death occurs.
Improvement
However, executives of our time have concluded that instant cardiac arrest (i.e., clinical death) does not cause current to pass through the brain. It only prolongs torment. The criminals are now incised, and the electrodes are inserted into the right thigh and left shoulder so that the charge passes through the heart and the aorta.
Electric chair - cruel punishment
Does it really 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 one degree or another, it is the electric chair that often gives tragic problems that cause additional suffering for the convict, especially in cases when the equipment used needs repair or is old. This led to the fact that this type of death penalty was recognized under the influence of Leo Jones, a well-known American human rights activist, as an inapplicable, cruel punishment that contradicts the US Constitution.
Now you know who invented the electric chair. Dentist Albert Southwick, apparently, did not suspect what fate was in store for the idea that came to his mind. 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 ease the suffering of people.