1To John Adams from Benjamin Rush, 21 February 1789 (Adams Papers)
...constitution, served as president of the state from 1778 to 1781. In Aug. and Sept. 1778, with the help of Attorney General Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, Reed directed 23 treason trials of alleged Philadelphia loyalists, including the conviction of Quaker artisans Abraham Carlisle and John Roberts. Rush joined the widespread public appeal for their pardon, but the two men were...
2Charles Adams to John Adams, 7 February 1796 (Adams Papers)
...the attention of our Statesmen the reduction of our penal code to a spirit of more mildness is one the most interesting to humanity. The Senate have passed a bill to abolish the punishment of death in all cases murder treason and burglary excepted....19 Feb., when it passed the senate. The assembly concurred, after various adjustments, on 25 March. The act allowed for capital punishment in...
3Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 March 1797 (Adams Papers)
at Milton they keep a Nightly Watch. it is really a Distressing calamity, but we shall be infested with more vagabonds, if the states go on to abolish capital punishmentsCapital punishment was an increasingly contested issue in the 1790s. Between 1794 and 1798 five states restricted the use of the death penalty to cases of murder or murder and treason. Virginia and New Jersey joined New York...