The death penalty has been used in the United States since the beginning. America was greatly influenced by Great Britain. They used the death penalty there and when the English colonized America, they continued the practice here. Here in the United States, several forms of execution are used. Lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, and firing squad: Although lethal injection is an acceptable form of execution in all states, there are states that use alternative methods. In addition to lethal injection, electrocution is used in 8 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. There are 3 states that use the gas chamber in addition to lethal injection. These states are Arizona, Missouri and Wyoming. There are also 3 states that use hanging in addition to lethal injection: they are Delaware, New Hampshire and Washington State. Believe it or not, there are also two states that use firing squad as a form of executions and they are Oklahoma and Utah. A total of 1,188 people were executed from 1977 to 2009. Of those executed ...