Who Invented The Guillotine

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The Renaissance Area was a time of very tragical brutality punishments, with machines such as the guillotine. Today this paper will be going to go over what the guillotine is: how it was used, who was the first person to use it, and when it was used. It will also, be discussing the history of the machine and why it was invented. Also, when and where the guillotine was used in different countries such as France, Germany, and
During the 1700s, the death penalty was a common punishment in Europe. The executions were a very bloody and extremely painful death. In some cases, it was designed to torture the victim. The newly formed French government killed thousands of those they thought were against the Revolution. These executions were carried out …show more content…

This decision clarified that everyone who was sentenced to the death penalty, would have their heads cut off by the guillotine. This became law on March 25th, 1992 (Boggs).
Operating the guillotine was a very skillful task. It requires strength, steady hand, and a good eye. The first gentleman, that was able to run the guillotine, was a guy that was named Sanson. His executions rate reached way higher than anyone had ever been expected. His speed was a faster rate than what the skilled headsmen could carry out. The first official guillotine was built in Paris by Tobias Schmidt. He is a German engineer. It had two large upright beams joined at the top. It was placed on top of a platform. The whole contraption was painted a very dull blood red. The blade ran in grooves in a up and down motion in the uprights. On April 25, 1792, the first execution was of a man named Nicholas Jacques Pelletier for robbery in Place de Greve. Guillotine worked according to plan, with his head being cleanly sliced off at the first strike of the …show more content…

Many other governments saw lots of advantages of how smooth the machines was, how fast everything happened, and the human practice compared to the other methods. Many other countries used this as well such as Algeria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco Switzerland, Sweden, Tunisia, and Vietnam. Italy used the guillotine from 1814 to 1870 for 369 executions. Sweden bought the guillotine from France in 1903, so they could end beheading with an axe. It was only used once for Sweden’s last beheading of Johan Ander in Stockholm on November 23,

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