answers.input_text: short
answers.span_text: the beginning
questions: when did the united states start using the death penalty
name: Capital punishment in the United States
contexts: Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the United States , currently used by 31 states , the federal government , and the military . Its existence can be traced to the beginning of the American colonies . The United States is the only Western country currently applying the death penalty , one of 57 countries worldwide applying it , and was the first to develop lethal injection as a method of execution , which has since been adopted by five other countries .