Francisco Botello Mrs.

Collesano Execution Research Paper

12/7/11 1

The French Revolution was a time of great turmoil in the world that brought on heavy violence in France at the cost of radical, swift change in its political structure. Anyone who stood for the king was executed, including the king himself. Execution was not as common before the Revolution as it was not so necessary. The dreaded guillotine being the main form of execution during the French Revolution (and created in this time period) continued to be the main form of execution in France until 1981 when execution was abolished. Before the French Revolution execution was nowhere near as common. There was no main form of execution, the type of execution a person would receive was based on their social class and on the crime they committed. If you were a noble, you were decapitated by a sword. (Document 6) Decapitation stayed the main form of execution during and after the French Revolution. If you were a thief, you were hanged, and if you were a heretic, you were burned. Capital Punishment in France was not a very big issue before the French Revolution. As the French Revolution began, the guillotine was used to execute many people. The guillotine got its name from Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin. He was not the lone inventor of the Guillotine but he was the one that proposed its usage to the National Assembly when he wrote some articles on the reformation of capital punishment in France. (Document 5) He called for any and all executions to be done by the guillotine. It also declared some safety nets for the family of the deceased, as it stated the condemned persons property shall not be confiscated. The people liked this idea because it gave them a sense of equality. Execution was now done without segregation of class. The guillotine killed many famous people during the French

Revolution, such as the King Louis XVI. Bringing on ultimate equality of execution as poor men and the King were executed in the same method. The people rejoiced in the battle-cry Vive la Republique! as the King was executed. (Document 3) The guillotine was intimidating, averaging a scary 14 feet. (Document 2) The blade itself weighed an astonishing 88.2 pounds, and the entire mechanism weighed 1278 pounds. As a side note, a funny law was in place for the guillotine. If the guillotine failed to work after the blade dropped, the prisoner is to be set free. (Document 4) Although the guillotine was the only formal way of execution, there was one more form of execution during the French Revolution: Assassination. Jean Paul Marat was assassinated by Charlotte Corday who wanted to keep her country safe, as he was sending many people to be killed by the guillotine. She assassinated him by lying about a list of treacherous traitors she was going to give him. As he was taking a medical bath for his skin condition, he invited her in for the list, and she gave him a dagger to the heart. (Document 1) She was later executed by the guillotine. About 20,000 people were killed by the guillotine during the French Revolution. After the French Revolution, the guillotine remained to be the main form of execution. The only other form of execution was by firing squad, and that was only achieved if one was to commit the crime of treason. (Document 7+9) Only a handful of executions were by firing squad. The guillotine was written into the French penal code and remained there until 1981. (Document 7) France also kept all of its executions public until 1939. (Document 10) When the people saw this execution the crowd was going hysterical and the King immediately banned executions from being public. The last official use of the guillotine in France was in 1977, executing a Hamida Djandoubi, and the guillotine was finally abolished in 1981 along with the

death penalty altogether. (Document 8) Most people hope that the guillotine will never come back to France again. Execution radically changed during the French Revolution and stayed that way until 1981. The guillotine was the poster child of execution in France, it was a quick and painless way to execute anyone of any class for any crime deserving of the death penalty. But with the death penalty abolished in France, the guillotine has become obsolete and is no longer in use, along with execution in France.