Thoughts on the Death Penalty
Charles C. Burleigh
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
This 1845 publication, written by a prominent reformer of the day, argues against capital punishment from several perspectives, including historical, philosophical and biblical arguments. It is broken into 3 chapters: Expediency, Justice, and Sacred Scriptures (although it has Scripture references peppered throughout). Burleigh frequently references and argues against George B. Cheever, a prominent death penalty advocate of the time.
"If it shall thus be the means of helping on in a humble way the progress of that humane reform whose principles it advocates; and of hastening, however little, the coming of that time, when the penal statutes of a "christian" and "civilized people," shall have ceased to be written in blood, I shall be richly repaid for the time and labor spent upon this task." (Summary by TriciaG and from the preface) (6 hr 22 min)
Chapters
| Preface | 2:40 | Read by Larry Wilson |
| Ch 1: Expediency, Part 1 | 20:00 | Read by Larry Wilson |
| Ch 1: Expediency, Part 2 | 26:13 | Read by Mary in Arkansas |
| Ch 1: Expediency, Part 3 | 20:46 | Read by Gillian Hendrie |
| Ch 1: Expediency, Part 4 | 25:52 | Read by Gillian Hendrie |
| Ch 1: Expediency, Part 5 | 23:55 | Read by Gillian Hendrie |
| Ch 1: Expediency, Part 6 | 21:35 | Read by Gillian Hendrie |
| Ch 1: Expediency, Part 7 | 34:30 | Read by TriciaG |
| Ch 1: Expediency, Part 8 | 17:22 | Read by TriciaG |
| Ch 1: Expediency, Part 9 | 20:53 | Read by Gillian Hendrie |
| Ch 1: Expediency, Part 10 | 38:21 | Read by Mary in Arkansas |
| Ch 1: Expediency, Part 11 | 29:20 | Read by Gillian Hendrie |
| Ch 2: Justice, Part 1 | 22:21 | Read by Shasta |
| Ch 2: Justice, Part 2 | 14:36 | Read by dunlapkw |
| Ch 3: Sacred Scriptures, Part 1 | 19:47 | Read by Gillian Hendrie |
| Ch 3: Sacred Scriptures, Part 2 | 23:29 | Read by Gillian Hendrie |
| Ch 3: Sacred Scriptures, Part 3 | 20:42 | Read by Gillian Hendrie |