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Prisoners Of War Essay

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How does the land of the brave and free treat their POW’s? Prisoners of War, otherwise known as POWs, date back to the Revolutionary War and continue up to current conflicts. At first, it was a challenge for America to house so-called Prisoners of War and to know how to treat them. Today, it is said that there are no real “prisoners” of war in America. Instead, the United States does not consider these people prisoners because they do not want them to be afforded the rights under the United States law and Constitution. These laws state that in the United States of America it is illegal to torture or mistreat prisoners. Detainees, who are placed in facilities like Guantanamo Bay, are subjected to punishments that range from limiting or overly …show more content…

According to the article “U.S. Civil War Prison Camps Claimed Thousands” the prisoners participated in card games and chess games to try and pass the time. They tried to do as much as possible to keep their sanity. When it all just became a little too much some prisoners were so desperate to get out of that situation they tried their best escape. They would try anything to get away. Whether that would be to pretend to be dead so they would be taken out and they could run away after the coast was clear or some would even attempt to darken their skin with charcoal and pretend to be an African American worker so they could leave with them (Hall). Prisoners would try anything just to get out of these prison camps. Apparently so many prisoners attempted to escape some prisons had to take large measures. Some camps would ban African American workers from working in their prison camps. Another popular way of escape was for Prisoners to dig tunnels in hopes of getting away but if they were captured they faced very cruel punishment for their attempts. People who lived in the Northern or Southern parts would try to protest the treatment of the prisoners, but nothing really worked to change what was going on until the end of the war. Prisoners only had two choices to deal with their prison conditions, stay there and deal with it or get out in some

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