Slaves were broken up from their families to ensure that working is their only priority. Having nothing to love and care for made slaves feel less human. Document 8 shows a picture of a man who was badly whipped. The document states, “Beatings with a whip were a common form of punishment used on slaves.” Beating was a form of punishment used when a slave disobeyed their master.
The brutality of American slavery prior to the abolishment of slavery after the American civil war of 1861 to 1865 varied depending on the conditions offered by slave masters and particular historical events along with the states which slaves were in (Source A). Evidence suggests that the treatment of slaves especially in the southern region of America (which includes the states South Carolina, Virginia, Florida and Georgia) was horrendous as it included various punishments which scared slaves not only physically but also mentally. The treatment a slave received was also based on the how long the slave or slaves actually worked for a particular owner (Source B). Many testimonials from former African American slaves go on further to show
Punishments included whipping, mutilation, being sold away, or assaulted (female). You might wonder how a human could treat another with such cruelty, it's because they considered slaves property and not human. Other owners viewed their slaves with paternalism, or with a father-like control. Correspondingly, to keep the slaves in their places, slave codes were passed. These codes inhibited a slave to leave without a pass, stand up against a white, read or write, and or have have anti-slavery items.
They received punishments in a form of whip every time to commit even a simple mistake. His punishment also included taking the slaves their basic needs such as food and clothing. “Scarcely a day passed, during the summer, but that some slaves had to take a lash for stealing fruits.” (Douglass, 325). This statement describes the severe consequences of just doing the smallest actions.
During the puritan times there were strict rules and codes for behavior. If one would violate these rules in any way there was a punishment. In the case of Dedham in 1630 there were the stocks. The puritan’s believed that when someone would sneeze, yawn, or laugh Satan would possess the body and made the person that was possessed misconduct. The stocks were a form of punishment for those who violated the law or a code of behavior.
Slaves endured an extreme amount of physical abuse. Some were whipped daily while others were starved. Slaves don't get to eat much each day. They were given a food allowance once a month. Some days they might not eat at all because they made their owners mad or they were being punished for doing something wrong.
In document seven it says common crimes the slaves were punished for were neglect, absence of work, eating the sugar cane, theft. If they were caught committing these crimes they could be whipped, beaten with a stick, chained, an iron crook around the neck, a ring around their ankle, or confinement in the dungeon. There was no common decency, or sympathy when it came to the punishment or treatment of the Africans. In document 4 an image of people being thrown overboard is shown. This was also another punishment they might face if they “misbehaved”.
The slaves were subject to frequent whippings for no obvious reason. Most masters held their slaves in privation, not being concerned of their laborers quality of life. Masters often did not give their laborers sufficient food or clothes because they did not want to spend extravagantly for their free workers. Even if the slaves were fortunate enough to have sufficient food, they would not be allowed ample time to eat. These slaves also lacked adequate time to sleep.
Slavery was a long, slow process of dulling. Slaves had the constant fear of physical violence, the threat of losing the ones they love, and endured a life of always being treated as subhuman. One way that slavery dulled those in its grip was the constant fear of physical violence. Their masters could hurt or kill them at any moment and there’s nothing they could do. Dana explains how whippings were
Corporal punishment towards indentured servants was expected for those who broke the rules. However, some servants were beaten so severely they died later that day. Masters were rarely punished for killing or severely injuring their servants. If indentured servants ran away to escape their horrible conditions, they
We are expected by each other to look a certain way, buy certain things, and act accordingly. There is a cardboard-cutout version of everyone that we must adhere to in order to be deemed pleasing by society. When we don’t quite fit in – when we don’t put forth an illusion and force people to confront reality – we are left alone. Until a time where those around you finally see that there is more to a human being than what they look like on the outside. It is often said that individuals are of what they do not know, terrified of what they do know, and frightened of what they have the potential of finding out.
As slavery became free in the north this soon disrupted the founding fathers beliefs of what slavery should be and this dismantled the nations stability to the core. Slaves were always beaten for any punishment to keep them in line. The founding fathers like this due to they can control the slaves out of fear. By corporal punishment spreading across America to the whites it was also the biggest thing slaves had that they were valuable to a point more Valuable than some white people which the founding fathers hated. They hated this because According to Russell he names several slaves that had killed their masters for over beating them and the resistant slaves a lot of the time was allowed to live sometime they weren’t even beaten (Pg.61-62).
Slave owners could treat their slaves however they wanted after all the slaves were considered their property. Most slave owners would harshly treat their slaves by wiping their body, burning them, and torturing
Sexually, mentally, and physically abused; slaves were struck, smacked and slapped by their masters. Slavery is a practice in which people own other people. A slave is the property of his or her owner and works without pay. The owner, who is called a master or mistress, provides the slave with food, shelter, and clothing. Slavery is a cruel and abusive way to get work done.
Along with the stripping of their identity, slaves were subjected to daily physical abuses such as beatings, lashing, and starvation. Other cruelties that slaved were forced to endure were unspeakable in certain degrees, "the punishments inflicted on slaves testify to the worst side of human nature… they were often tinged with perverted sexuality and sadism… a kind of sick fascination… the testimony of former slaves, the diaries of southern women… and public records teem with accounts" (Schneider 90-91). These horrors would deeply affect anyone who had an experience with this. However, the repeat exposure over several generations is what generated Post-Traumatic Slave