Capital punishment is a legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime. There are 5 ways to carry out capital punishment; lethal injection, firing squad, gas chambers, electric chair, and hanging. In 1865, if you committed a crime of murder, rape, or treason, it carried the death penalty. In Canada, capital punishment was removed in 1976, and replaced with a life sentence without the possibility of parole for 25 years. The last executions in Canada took place in 1962, but in 1966 if you killed a police officer or a prison guard, you could be sentenced by capital punishment.

The story “Two Fishermen,” would have taken place in 1865-1976 if it was based in Canada. In 1856, crimes of murder of an ordinary citizen were punishable by death. If it were to take place at any other time, he would have had to kill a police officer or prison guard in order to get capital punishment. Personally, I believe that Thomas Delaney should not have been killed for defending his wife. First of all, he was defending his wife from an attacker, hence saving her life. Secondly, he acted out of anger and not being in the right state of mind so he should not be punished for defending himself and his wife. Lastly, it was not premeditated murder so I believe that being put in jail for the rest of his life would have been a better option. Also, if they wanted him to suffer for what he did, they should have put him in jail so he has to live with what he did for the rest of his life instead of taking the “easy way out” and getting hung.

(This cartoon shows a reason why many states banned the electric chair as an option for capital punishment. Many people began to watch the event as entertainment, making it seem like an attraction rather than someones life being  ended.)