Beatrice Lang
The electric chair was invented by employees at Thomas Edison's works in West Orange, New Jersey, in the late 1880s. Edison, who was publicly against capital punishment, was involved in the invention of the electric chair as he wanted to prove that his rival George Westinghouse's alternating current generators were more dangerous than his own direct current power system. Edison's motivation was industrial envy, and he secretly financed the project to ensure that the first electric chair would be constructed using alternating currents.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Who invented the electric chair? | Alfred Southwick invented the electric chair, but Thomas Edison's employees at West Orange, New Jersey, were involved in its creation. |
| Why was it invented? | To find a more humane way to execute criminals. Edison also wanted to promote his direct current power system and discredit his rival George Westinghouse's alternating current system. |
| When was it invented? | In the late 1880s. |
| Who financed it? | Edison secretly financed the project. |
| Who built it? | Edwin F. Davis, the first "state electrician" (executioner) for the State of New York. |
| Who designed it? | George Fell drew up the final designs. |
| Who supplied the generators? | Harold P. Brown, with the help of Edison and Thomson-Houston Electric Company, acquired Westinghouse AC generators. |
| Who was executed first? | William Kemmler, a convicted murderer. |
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What You'll Learn
Thomas Edison's involvement
In the late 19th century, Edison was engaged in a fierce competition with George Westinghouse, a battle to establish a universal standard for the transmission of electricity. Edison had developed direct current (DC) power, while Westinghouse had introduced alternating current (AC) generators, which had numerous advantages over direct current. Recognising the potential of AC, Edison enlisted the help of Nikola Tesla, an early master of electrical power. However, he ultimately chose to pursue direct current, setting the stage for a rivalry with Westinghouse.
As the competition between the two inventors intensified, it became known as the "war of the currents". Edison sought to demonstrate the dangers of AC power and associate it with the death penalty. He recommended the use of Westinghouse's AC generators for executions, hoping that "Westinghoused" would become synonymous with death by electrocution. To further his agenda, Edison even served on a death penalty commission formed by the governor of New York State in 1886. The commission, chaired by human rights advocate Elbridge Thomas Gerry, aimed to investigate more humane methods of execution. Despite Edison's public opposition to capital punishment, his true motive was to discredit Westinghouse.
Edison's involvement in the electric chair extended beyond the commission. He secretly financed Harold P. Brown's project to build the first electric chair, ensuring that it was constructed using alternating current. Brown, who was on his own crusade against alternating current, conducted a series of public electrocutions of animals, including dogs and horses, to prove that AC was more deadly than DC. These demonstrations were often held in front of reporters, with technical assistance provided by Edison's West Orange laboratory. The results of these experiments influenced the design of the electric chair and the recommended voltage for executions.
The first person to be executed by the electric chair was William Kemmler, a convicted murderer. The execution took place in 1890 at Auburn Prison in New York State. Despite Edison's efforts to associate Westinghouse with capital punishment, it was Edison's own equipment that was ultimately used in the first electric chair execution. This outcome further embarrassed Edison's biographers, as his involvement in facilitating this method of execution contrasted with his public stance against capital punishment.
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The role of George Westinghouse
The rivalry between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse played a significant role in the development and use of the electric chair. While Edison's involvement is well-documented, his motivation went beyond the improvement of capital punishment methods. Instead, he sought to discredit Westinghouse's alternating current (AC) system, which was a competing technology to his direct current (DC) system.
George Westinghouse was a formidable rival to Thomas Edison in the late 19th century's rapidly evolving electrical industry. Westinghouse was a prolific inventor, with more than 400 patents to his name throughout his life. One of his most notable inventions was the air brake, which revolutionized railroad travel by allowing trains to stop quickly and safely, enabling much higher operating speeds. Westinghouse's interest in electricity led him to introduce alternating current generators across the country, directly challenging Edison's direct current system.
The competition between Edison and Westinghouse, often referred to as the "War of Currents", intensified as they battled to establish a universal standard for electricity transmission. Edison, recognizing the potential issues with his direct current system, enlisted the help of Nikola Tesla, who advised him to switch to alternating current. However, Edison was reluctant to adopt Tesla's suggestion and instead chose to discredit Westinghouse's AC system by associating it with the electric chair.
Westinghouse, despite his opposition to capital punishment, found himself drawn into the development of the electric chair due to the efforts of Edison and his associates. Edison recommended the use of Westinghouse's AC generators for executions, hoping that the "death machine" would become synonymous with Westinghouse's technology. He even suggested using the term "Westinghoused" to describe a criminal who had been executed by electrocution. While the slang term did not catch on, it reflected Edison's intention to tarnish Westinghouse's reputation.
Westinghouse actively refused to sell his AC generators to public officials for use in executions, demonstrating his ethical stance on the matter. However, Edison secretly financed the first electric chair project, ensuring that it was constructed using alternating current. He colluded with Harold P. Brown, who conducted public electrocutions of animals to prove that AC was more deadly than DC. Despite Westinghouse's criticism of these tests as skewed and self-serving, Edison's campaign to associate Westinghouse's technology with the electric chair was partially successful, as Westinghouse's equipment was ultimately associated with the first execution.
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The war of the currents
By 1886, Edison's system was facing new competition from an alternating current system introduced by George Westinghouse's company. This system used transformers to step down from a high voltage so that AC could be used for indoor lighting. The use of high voltage allowed an AC system to transmit power over longer distances from more efficient large central generating stations.
As the use of AC spread rapidly, with other companies deploying their own systems, the Edison Electric Light Company claimed in early 1888 that the high voltages in an alternating current system were dangerous. In February 1888, Edison Electric president Edward Johnson published an 84-page pamphlet titled "A Warning from the Edison Electric Light Company", which was sent to newspapers and companies that had purchased or planned to purchase electrical equipment from Edison competitors. It warned that the competitors were infringing on Edison's patents and that purchasers could find themselves on the losing side of a court case if those patents were upheld. The pamphlet also emphasised the safety and efficiency of direct current, claiming that it had not caused a single death, and included newspaper stories of accidental electrocutions caused by alternating current.
In June 1888, Harold P. Brown, a New York electrical engineer, claimed that the AC-based lighting companies were putting the public at risk by using high-voltage systems installed in a slipshod manner. Brown also tried to prove that alternating current was more dangerous than direct current by publicly killing animals with both currents, with technical assistance from Edison Electric. The Edison company and Brown colluded to limit the use of AC through legislation and also worked with Westinghouse's chief AC rival, the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, to ensure that the first electric chair was powered by a Westinghouse AC generator.
In 1893, at the height of the Current War, General Electric bid to electrify the Chicago World's Fair using Edison's direct current for $554,000, but lost to Westinghouse, who offered to do it for $399,000 using Tesla's alternating current. That same year, Westinghouse was awarded the contract to generate power from Niagara Falls, which successfully lit up Buffalo, New York, in 1896. By this time, General Electric had also switched to using alternating current. The merger of Edison Electric with Thomson-Houston in 1892 brought an end to the war of the currents, with the new company, General Electric, now controlling three-quarters of the US electrical business.
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The first execution
The electric chair was invented in the late 1880s by employees at Thomas Edison's laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey. Edison, who was publicly against capital punishment, was motivated by industrial envy of his competitor in electrical transmission and supply, George Westinghouse. Westinghouse had introduced alternating current (AC) generators across the country, while Edison had been working on direct current (DC) power systems.
In 1886, New York State Governor David B. Hill set up a three-member death penalty commission to investigate a more humane means of execution. The commission included Edison and Alfred Southwick, who invented the electric chair but did not design the ultimate version. Edison recommended the use of AC and a Westinghouse generator for the electric chair. He also held public executions of animals to demonstrate that Westinghouse's generators were more dangerous than his own.
The electric chair was built by Edwin F. Davis, the first "state electrician" (executioner) for the State of New York. The original design was by George Fell, who drew up plans for a simple oak chair with electrodes placed on the head and middle of the back. The first person scheduled to die under New York's new electrocution law was Joseph Chapleau, but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
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The legacy of the electric chair
The electric chair was conceived in 1881 by Alfred P. Southwick, a Buffalo, New York dentist. It was developed over the next decade as a more humane alternative to conventional executions, particularly hanging. The first electric chair execution took place in 1890, and since then, it has been used to execute over 4,300 individuals in 23 states.
The electric chair is a specialised device used for capital punishment through electrocution. The condemned person is strapped to a custom wooden chair and electrocuted via electrodes attached to the head and leg. The method was originally thought to cause death through cerebral damage, but it was scientifically established in 1899 that death primarily results from ventricular fibrillation and cardiac arrest.
On the other hand, the first electric chair execution was gruesome and far from painless. The prisoner, William Kemmler, was strapped to the chair and electrocuted, but the current was not strong enough, and he began to breathe and move. The current had to be restarted, and the execution took several minutes, during which Kemmler suffered horribly. The press roundly condemned the execution as agonising and inhumane.
The electric chair also became entangled in the rivalry between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, pioneers in the field of electricity transmission. Edison, who publicly opposed capital punishment, secretly financed the development of the electric chair using Westinghouse's alternating current (AC) system, which he claimed was too dangerous. He did this to discredit Westinghouse and promote his own direct current (DC) system.
Today, the use of the electric chair has steadily declined, and in many states, it is now only a museum display. However, as of 2025, electrocution remains an option in several states, where inmates may choose lethal injection instead.
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Frequently asked questions
No, Edison did not invent the electric chair. However, he did finance its creation and his employees at West Orange, New Jersey, built it.
Edison was in competition with George Westinghouse over the standard for transmission of electricity. Edison wanted to prove that Westinghouse's generators were more dangerous than his own.
Edison held public executions of animals using alternating current, which Westinghouse's generators used. He also recommended the use of Westinghouse generators for executions.
Yes and no. While Westinghouse's generators were associated with the first execution, Edison ultimately lost the "war" between alternating and direct current.
