In newly independent US, Americans debated whether public executions taught a lesson or just showed off the state’s power to destroy

By Maurizio Valsania, Professor of American History, Università di Torino, The Conversation · October 14, 2026

The conflict over the wisdom of Nidal Hasan’s public execution is not a new one. Americans at the republic’s founding debated – and doubted – whether watching someone die would teach a useful lesson.

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