Wish I'd seen this earlier. I'd have incorporated much of it into my house decorations for this year. Of course, I'm still working on my house being in black and white. Darn Technicolor!!!!

The French didn't invent the Guillotine, they only gave it the name. The Brits were using a guillotine-style decapitation machine for hundreds of years prior to the French Revolution.

I_C_Weener: Wish I'd seen this earlier. I'd have incorporated much of it into my house decorations for this year. Of course, I'm still working on my house being in black and white. Darn Technicolor!!!!

It's the tornadoes that do it, I believe.

TKM: The Nazi's are a tough act to follow.

They do have excellent dance numbers.

Dr. Guillotine invented the instrument of death that bears his name as a humane alternative to killing criminals with the sword, the ax or the rope.

He observed that it often took an inordinate length of time for a prisoner to die by traditional means and that the death throes gave every sign of extraordinary suffering and anguish . If the executioner were clumsy or unskilled or simply distracted, it might take many hacks of the sword or ax to behead a condemned man (or occasionally woman). Hanging was notoriously cruel and unreliable.

Hanging is part art and part science. Hanging was often bungled even by experts who prided themselves on their work, because you had to adjust the drop very carefully to account for the weight of the victim, as well as the strength of their neck. If you got it wrong the prisoner could take a long time to die or at the other extreme, would be beheaded.

Dr. Guillotine's invention was swift and fairly fool-proof. Mind you, it was not totally fool-proof and the argument on how long a person's brain remained alive and conscious after beheading went on until the abolition of capital punishment in France. The last execution by guillotine took place in the 1950s, nearly two centuries after the adoption of that means of execution.

There is good reason to believe that the guillotine was in fact much more humane than execution by sword, ax or rope, and that it even rivaled modern techniques of execution such as the gas chamber and electrocution.

These are often bungled as well, and there is a great deal of variability in how long individuals can withstand electric current or poison gas. Some executions have been singularly inhumane, with the victim suffering terribly, and in states where being accused is good enough reason to execute nearly anybody, and despite the constitutional principle of "no double jeopardy", it has sometimes taken more than one execution to kill the prisoner.

Some executioners were notoroious bad men and bad executioners. Jack Ketch was a name to inspire horror and hatred not only among the criminal classes but in the minds and hearts of the most devoted proponents of capital punishment. He was an embarassment to the profession: drunken, vain, cruel, stupid, and incompetent. Even a large bribe would not ensure a "clean" hanging at his hands. IIRC, he was eventually hanged himself after a lifetime of cruelty and vileness.

Other executioners took pride in their work and the trade was handed down in families as a craft demanding a special kind of mentality (a true belief in service to society) and special skills. Not every man can be a hangsman. The frontier "justice" depicted in movies illustrates this quite well, even if it isn't very accurate historically. The idea of hanging a man from a tree (without any drop to speak of) is horrible. It might take him hours to die. The average villain might die of thirst before choking got him.

As for the deterrent effect of capital punishment, it is moot. English juries were reluctant to hang anybody except the most depraved and obvious menaces to society, so sentences of death by hanging were relatively rare despite a tremendous range of crimes for which a sentence of death could be exacted--from petty theft up to treason.

The sympathies of the jury and public were often more with the accused than the magistrates because of "class warfare". Who would be so cruel as to hang a starving man for the theft of an egg, let alone a woman or child? Well, there are plenty of that type, actually.

As for women, they often contrived to get themselves with child while in prison to avoid hanging. The annals of Newgate Prison make it clear that it was difficult to hang a woman. It was one of the perquisites of the jailer (gaoler) to impregnate the women on death row. The death sentence would often be commuted to life in prison or Australia, whichever is worse. In any case, it took quite a lot of ill-will on the part of the jury to sentence a woman to hang. A pretty young thing, well coached in the arts of crying on demand, could literally get away with murder if she put on a good show during the trial.

Sexism is well represented by the double-edged ax adopted as an emblem by some modern lesbians and feminists. It cuts both ways.

So let's raise our voices in one-and-a-half cheers for Dr. Guillotine.

He meant well.

It's a pity the French Revolution came along so soon after his invention because he certainly didn't intend it to be used willy-nilly as a political tool. He was attempting to make a necessary evil efficient and humane. It's a goal that has not been reached even today anywhere the death penalty is applied.

Personally, I think that Australia or life in prison is much more of a reliable deterrent to crime than mere death. Everybody dies. Not everybody has to live with a roommate nick-named Psycho by some of the most psychotic men on Earth.

brantgoose: Dr. Guillotine invented the instrument of death that bears his name as a humane alternative to killing criminals with the sword, the ax or the rope.

He observed that it often took an inordinate length of time for a prisoner to die by traditional means and that the death throes gave every sign of extraordinary suffering and anguish . If the executioner were clumsy or unskilled or simply distracted, it might take many hacks of the sword or ax to behead a condemned man (or occasionally woman). Hanging was notoriously cruel and unreliable.

Hanging is part art and part science. Hanging was often bungled even by experts who prided themselves on their work, because you had to adjust the drop very carefully to account for the weight of the victim, as well as the strength of their neck. If you got it wrong the prisoner could take a long time to die or at the other extreme, would be beheaded.

Dr. Guillotine's invention was swift and fairly fool-proof. Mind you, it was not totally fool-proof and the argument on how long a person's brain remained alive and conscious after beheading went on until the abolition of capital punishment in France. The last execution by guillotine took place in the 1950s, nearly two centuries after the adoption of that means of execution.

There is good reason to believe that the guillotine was in fact much more humane than execution by sword, ax or rope, and that it even rivaled modern techniques of execution such as the gas chamber and electrocution.

These are often bungled as well, and there is a great deal of variability in how long individuals can withstand electric current or poison gas. Some executions have been singularly inhumane, with the victim suffering terribly, and in states where being accused is good enough reason to execute nearly anybody, and despite the constitutional principle of "no double jeopardy", it has sometimes taken more than one execution to kill the prisoner.

Some executioners were notoroious bad men and bad executioners. Jack Ketch was a name to inspire horror and hatred not only among the criminal classes but in the minds and hearts of the most devoted proponents of capital punishment. He was an embarassment to the profession: drunken, vain, cruel, stupid, and incompetent. Even a large bribe would not ensure a "clean" hanging at his hands. IIRC, he was eventually hanged himself after a lifetime of cruelty and vileness.

Other executioners took pride in their work and the trade was handed down in families as a craft demanding a special kind of mentality (a true belief in service to society) and special skills. Not every man can be a hangsman. The frontier "justice" depicted in movies illustrates this quite well, even if it isn't very accurate historically. The idea of hanging a man from a tree (without any drop to speak of) is horrible. It might take him hours to die. The average villain might die of thirst before choking got him.

As for the deterrent effect of capital punishment, it is moot. English juries were reluctant to hang anybody except the most depraved and obvious menaces to society, so sentences of death by hanging were relatively rare despite a tremendous range of crimes for which a sentence of death could be exacted--from petty theft up to treason.

The sympathies of the jury and public were often more with the accused than the magistrates because of "class warfare". Who would be so cruel as to hang a starving man for the theft of an egg, let alone a woman or child? Well, there are plenty of that type, actually.

As for women, they often contrived to get themselves with child while in prison to avoid hanging. The annals of Newgate Prison make it clear that it was difficult to hang a woman. It was one of the perquisites of the jailer (gaoler) to impregnate the women on death row. The death sentence would often be commuted to life in prison or Australia, whichever is worse. In any case, it took quite a lot of ill-will on the part of the jury to sentence a woman to hang. A pretty young thing, well coached in the arts of crying on demand, could literally get aw ...

I learned a lot from that interesting read.

Thank you.

It took me about 10 seconds of staring at it before I realized #13 wasn't a DIY abortion.

2 years after Nazi Germany was forced to leave France, having deported, killed, tortured, enslaved and otherwise treated France's population terribly? Not to mention losing an entire generation 30 years before?

I'm surprised all of those acts were fake.

Jamdug!: TKM: The Nazi's are a tough act to follow.

They do have excellent dance numbers.

Hey! I believe the dance number goes

Throw up your hands
Stick out your tush
Hands on your hips
Give 'em a push
You'll be surprised, you're doing the French Mistake
Voila!

jackobeast: Grables'Daughter: I_C_Weener: Wish I'd seen this earlier. I'd have incorporated much of it into my house decorations for this year. Of course, I'm still working on my house being in black and white. Darn Technicolor!!!!

It's the tornadoes that do it, I believe.

Aunt Em?

FINALLY!

Someone gets my joke!

LemSkroob: Jamdug!: TKM: The Nazi's are a tough act to follow.

They do have excellent dance numbers.

and FANTASTIC uniforms. Best dressed army, ever.

Man, the guy who designed those uniforms is a Whitest Kids U Know sketch waiting to happen.

Attention Whore of Babylon: brantgoose: Some executions have been singularly inhumane, with the victim suffering terribly, and in states where being accused is good enough reason to execute nearly anybody, and despite the constitutional principle of "no double jeopardy", it has sometimes taken more than one execution to kill the prisoner.

I don't think that's what "double jeopardy" means.



Did I get it right?