The newly-created United States vested legal authority in states and localities, leaving limited original jurisdiction to the federal government. As that original jurisdiction developed, the primary place in which the federal death penalty was applied was into the legal void that existed around international trade. Of the seventy-two federal executions conducted before the end of the Civil War, sixty-one were for piracy on the “Eastern frontier” of the high seas. Eight others were for murders that occurred on the Western frontier and the remaining three were for mail robbery.
| DEFENDANT NAME | EXECUTION DATE | EXECUTION LOCATION |
| BIRD, THOMAS | 06/25/1790 | MAINE |
| MAUNIER, PHILIP | 07/06/1793 | NORTH CAROLINA |
| PAIN, CLAUDE | 07/06/1793 | NORTH CAROLINA |
| EDWARDS, JOHN | 07/06/1793 | NORTH CAROLINA |
| McDANIEL, HENRY | 07/06/1793 | NORTH CAROLINA |
| COLLINS, JOHN BAPTISTE | 07/30/1794 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| FASTIDI, EMANUEL | 07/30/1794 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| POLESKI, AUGUSTUS | 07/30/1794 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| BAKER, JOSEPH | 05/09/1800 | PENNSYLVANIA |
| BEROUSE, JOSEPH | 05/09/1800 | PENNSYLVANIA |
| LE CROIX, PETER | 05/09/1800 | PENNSYLVANIA |
| TULLY, SAMUEL | 12/10/1812 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| WYATT, WILLIAM | 06/25/1818 | LOUISIANA |
| HARE, JOSEPH | 09/10/1818 | MARYLAND |
| ALEXANDER, JOHN | 09/10/1818 | MARYLAND |
| WILLIAMS, JOHN | 02/10/1819 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| FREDERICK, FRANCIS | 02/10/1819 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| ROG, JOHN | 02/10/1819 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| PETERSON, PETER | 02/10/1819 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| BROWN, GEORGE | 10/22/1819 | NEW YORK |
| FERGUSON, JOHN F. | 04/13/1820 | MARYLAND |
| DENNY, ISRAEL | 04/13/1820 | MARYLAND |
| FURLONG, JOHN | 04/28/1820 | GEORGIA |
| CLARK, GEORGE | 05/12/1820 | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| ROBERTS, HENRY | 05/12/1820 | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| DESFARGES, JOHN | 05/25/1820 | LOUISIANA |
| JOHNSTON, ROBERT | 05/25/1820 | LOUISIANA |
| WARRINGTON, THOMAS | 06/15/1820 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| HOLMES, WILLIAM | 06/15/1820 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| ROSEWAIN, EDWARD | 06/15/1820 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| JONES, THOMAS | 06/11/1824 | NEW YORK |
| ANTHONY, PERRY | 12/21/1824 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| HILL, WILLIAM | 12/15/1826 | NEW YORK |
| COLSON, SYLVESTER | 02/01/1827 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| CASARES, JOSE | 08/17/1827 | VIRGINIA |
| BARBEITO, FELIX | 08/17/1827 | VIRGINIA |
| MORANDO, JOSE | 08/17/1827 | VIRGINIA |
| AVILEZ, JOHN | 10/05/1827 | ALABAMA |
| PORTER, JAMES | 07/02/1830 | PENNSYLVANIA |
| WANSLEY, THOMAS J. | 04/22/1831 | NEW YORK |
| GIBBS, CHARLES | 04/22/1831 | NEW YORK |
| GADETT, JOSEPH | 07/01/1831 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| COLLINET, THOMAS | 07/01/1831 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| JOSEPH, HENRY | 12/05/1834 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| GILBERT, PEDRO | 06/11/1835 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| BOYGA, MANUEL | 06/11/1835 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| CASTILLO, MANUEL | 06/11/1835 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| GARCIA, ANGEL | 06/11/1835 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| MONTENEGRO, JUAN | 06/11/1835 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| RUIZ, FRANCISCO | 09/12/1835 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| MORAN, JAMES | 05/19/1837 | PENNSYLVANIA |
| LARKIN, JOHN | 06/21/1839 | ALABAMA |
| WILHELMS, CORNELIUS | 06/21/1839 | NEW YORK |
| BENSON, THOMAS | 07/25/1851 | NEW YORK |
| DOUGLASS, EDWARD F. | 07/25/1851 | NEW YORK |
| CLEMENTS, EDWARD | 04/23/1852 | VIRGINIA |
| REID, THOMAS | 04/23/1852 | VIRGINIA |
| COX, ABRAM | 08/27/1858 | MAINE |
| WILLIAMS, PETER | 08/27/1858 | MAINE |
| HICKS, ALBERT W. | 07/13/1860 | NEW YORK |
| GORDON, NATHANIEL | 02/21/1862 | NEW YORK |
The Federal Death Penalty Project 