The Anti-Gallows Movement in Antebellum Literature - Cesare Beccaria, Montesquieu, and Republican Criminal Justice Reform 1772-1862

This study examines the development of anti-capital punishment sentiment in antebellum American Literature. Drawing on republican criminal reform theories, prominent American authors and social reformers advocated for the abolition of the gallows, justice, and criminal reform for the diverse citizens of the young republic.