Executions Overview

Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The Espy File

The Espy File” is a data­base of exe­cu­tions in the United States and the ear­li­er colonies from 1608 to 2002. This list of 15,269 exe­cu­tions was com­piled by M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smykla, and was made avail­able through the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. Note: This is the lat­est ver­sion of the Espy File. Previously, this web page con­tained The Espy File: 1608 – 1987.”

The files below fea­ture impor­tant infor­ma­tion about each exe­cu­tion list­ed in the Espy File, such as the name, age and race of each indi­vid­ual exe­cut­ed, the date of exe­cu­tion, and the method of exe­cu­tion used, but omit some infor­ma­tion, such as coun­ty of exe­cu­tion and the occu­pa­tion of the exe­cut­ed. To down­load the com­plete Espy File, vis­it the ICPSR web­site at www​.icp​sr​.umich​.edu/​NACJD (click down­load data” and use ICPSR # 8451). Some infor­ma­tion in the Espy File dif­fers slight­ly from DPI infor­ma­tion since 1976, with respect to dates of exe­cu­tion and race of the inmate, but not the names, place or method of exe­cu­tion. In these instances, DPI has ver­i­fied through Department of Corrections’ web­sites and news accounts that the infor­ma­tion on DPI pages is cor­rect. For infor­ma­tion on more recent exe­cu­tions, see DPI’s Information on Executions in the U.S.

Please note that the Espy File is an incom­plete work, and that oth­er stud­ies fea­tured on this web­site may include exe­cu­tions not list­ed in the Espy File.

DPI’s dis­play of the Espy File data has been sort­ed in three dif­fer­ent ways for con­ve­nience in research­ing: Executions in Chronological Order, Executions in Alphabetical Order by the last name of the defen­dant, and Executions in Geographical Order, by the state in which the exe­cu­tion was car­ried out. In all of these files, the loca­tion giv­en is not nec­es­sar­i­ly the juris­dic­tion respon­si­ble for the exe­cu­tion. For exam­ple, an exe­cu­tion may have occurred in California but under fed­er­al juris­dic­tion. The loca­tion would be list­ed as CA. Consult the orig­i­nal Espy File data­base for complete information.

The files are in pdf form and may be read with the free pro­gram Adobe Reader.

This infor­ma­tion is also avail­able in Excel for­mat.

Historical Leaders in Executions Since 1608

Using infor­ma­tion con­tained in the Espy File” togeth­er with cur­rent infor­ma­tion, the states in the United States that have exe­cut­ed 700 or more pris­on­ers since 1608 are as follows:

Espy File
16081972

DPI
1976 

2019

Total
1608 – 2019
1. Virginia1,2771131,390
2. Texas7555671,325
3. New York1,13001,130
4. Pennsylvania1,04031,043
5. Georgia950751,026
6. North Carolina78443827
7. Alabama70866775
8. California70913722

* Executions as of December 312020

For exe­cu­tions occur­ring after January 1, 2023, see our Executions Database.

Executions by Race of Defendants: 1608 – 2022

Below is the racial break­down of peo­ple exe­cut­ed from 1608 to 1972, com­piled from infor­ma­tion found in the Espy File.” Also shown is the same break­down since the death penal­ty was resumed in 1976, com­piled from DPI race sta­tis­tics. For more infor­ma­tion, see Race and the Death Penalty.

RaceEspy File 1608 — 1972DPI 1976 — 2022*Executions 1608 — 2022*
White40.7% (5,902)55.6% (866)42.2% (6,768)
Black48.9% (7,084)34.1% (532)47.5% (7,616)
Native American2.4% (353)1.3% (20)2.3% (373)
Hispanic2.0% (295)8.3% (130)2.6% (424)
Other (includes Asian Pacific Islander and unknown)5.9% (855)0.6% (10)5.4% (865)
Total Executions14,4891,55816,047

*Executions through December 312022

Numbers in paren­the­sis are the actu­al num­ber of per­sons of each race exe­cut­ed in the time period.

Executions 1608 – 1976

StateExecutions 1608 – 1976
Virginia1,277
New York1,130
Pennsylvania1,040
Georgia950
North Carolina784
Texas755
California709
Alabama708
South Carolina641
Louisiana632
Arkansas478
Ohio438
Kentucky424
New Jersey361
Mississippi351
Illinois348
Massachusetts345
Tennessee335
Florida314
Maryland309
Missouri285
West Virginia155
Oklahoma132
Indiana131
Connecticut126
Oregon122
Washington, DC118
Washington105
Arizona104
Colorado101
New Mexico73
Montana71
Minnesota66
Delaware62
Nevada61
Kansas57
Rhode Island52
Hawaii49
Iowa45
Utah43
Nebraska34
Idaho26
Vermont26
New Hampshire24
Wyoming22
Maine21
South Dakota15
Michigan13
Alaska12
North Dakota8
Wisconsin1