Themed Set: The Spectacle of Public Hanging in America
December 26th, 2007 Headsman
Inherited from England, the ceremony and theater of public hangings in the youthful United States and its antecedent colonies present an almost impossibly dramatic variety for characters, costumes and stagecraft. The ritual has — at least in the U.S.A. — slipped out of time into history, myth, even kitsch.
How representative of public hangings are any of the phenomenon’s instantly recognizable tropes remains another matter.
The next four dates offer a handful that alongside their inherent interest suggest — if only by illustration — the diverse circumstances that have gathered men and women under the gallows in the New World.
Entry Filed under: Themed Sets
2 Comments Add your own
1. ExecutedToday.com »&hellip | October 3rd, 2008 at 2:43 pm
[...] long New World tradition of hanging condemned prisoners came under fire as a barbarism in the late 19th century, leading reformers to [...]
2. ExecutedToday.com »&hellip | October 3rd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
[...] in the British Empire and its descendant countries, the hanging — and especially the public hanging — were the very image of the death penalty; its most characteristic venue at the corner of [...]
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