Horrific Punishment of Slaves in Colonial Americ

  Horrific Punishment of Slaves in Colonial Americ

Slavery refers to a condition in which individuals are owned by others who control the general conditions of their lives, including where they live, what they eat, their work, movements, etc. Slave trade is one of the social phenomena in history that is associated with the cruelest and dehumanizing treatments. Since the enslaved people are nothing less than properties in the custody of their masters, they are treated in the most bizarre manners that have no human consideration attached.

Punishment in the South – Louisiana

The atrocities of these slaves took place both in the north and south and across the Americas but without question the degree of punishment differed in the south. Louisianian Slave owner Madame Laurie was on of the most infamous slave owners in state and ultimately the region. The conditions she subjected her enslaved were so heinous and despicable that even other slave owners were appalled. Journalists at the time couldn't even bring themselves to describe the awful things she did, instead, the New Orleans Bee wrote, "We would shrink from the task of detailing the painful circumstances connected therewith, were it not that a sense of duty... renders it indispensable to do so." After Laurie's home caught fire one day, a crowd to fight the flames but soon discovered something so gruesome they couldn't believe their eyes. "Seven Slaves more or less horribly mutilated, were seen suspended by the neck, with their limbs apparently stretched and torn from one extremity to the other."

Brutal Whippings

The main method used to control the behavior of slaves was the threat of whipping which tore the flesh from their backs, arms, and legs. This method was preferred both in the north and south. The whippings and beatings were usually so horrific and as bad as you could ever imagine. The number of lashes which were always many depended on the seriousness of the offense. Slaves were whipped daily; it was not necessarily because they committed a serious offense, rather, beatings, whippings, and other torture acts were a form of mind and body control; a way to re-assert the dominance of their masters and also demoralize the slaves, keeping them bent on their labor. No condition makes an exception for any slave: the young, old, male, females, including pregnant women and mentally and physically challenged were lashed whenever the occasion called for such. In the case of pregnancy, a hole might be dug for the pregnant woman to rest her belly while being whipped. Whipping grew so common during slavery.

Slave Collars

The south loved to use torture instruments and they came in many shapes and forms. They were used to punish slaves by subjecting them to very uncomfortable and brutal conditions. Some of them were worn whereas some were constructed and the slave confined to a particular killer-fixed position by the instrument. When worn, the slave is forced to continue his/her daily tasks with the discomforting device and is also expected to work at the same pace and productivity level as when freed. He/she may also be given a task to accomplish which they know will be very difficult to go about which the torturous device intact.

 

A black slave once told how he was tortured in this manner with his neck snugly encased by an iron band, slave collar, an instrument of such a peculiar shape so as to render his labor difficult to accomplish. The negro stated that he wore it for two good months! The form of the instrument prevented him from lying down, taking a rest, or sleeping. Naturally fatigue would soon set in causing delusions and insomnia and mental sickness rendering him burdensome for the day. It consisted of a heavy iron ring, fitting closely around the neck, from which extended three prongs, each, two feet in length, with a ring on the end. Horrible!

Cruel and unusual punishment in the South

Many executions in the south were done by hanging. If the whites wanted to make it more grisly, they would hang the person alive with a hook dug into one of his lungs. They may also decide to hang the slave upside down. Moreover, in what the slave masters call very serious offenses, which they feel exceeded all other forms of punishment the slave had to be dispensed and usually in a horrifically painful and inhumane way. They burn the slaves alive, usually bound on a stake. This is one of the cruelest ways they would take the lives of these slaves and it's heart wrenching.

Murder in the South

Sexual Assault was rampit in the North and South. A certain group of enslaved women were labelled 'Jezebels' by their owners. These women were alleged to be more promiscuous than their counterparts and were often subjected to sexual abuse several times throughout the day. While white men forced these 'Jezzy's' to have sex with them, they claimed that it was the enslaved woman's fault for being so loose; as if they asked for this attention. Although female slaves are the ones that suffer the most, sometimes, males are also subjected to sexual abuse by promiscuous mistresses or forced to have sex with fellow slaves to produce children who'll work for their masters. Slaves are raped without having anyone to report to, instead, the white slave owners expect them to be grateful for having sex with them, proudly saying that they are 'doing them a favor'.

 

Many times they women slaves would become impregnated as would the white mistresses that forced the black men to have sex with them. An impregnated female slave would in no way exempt them from their normal daily routines and punishments as slaves, neither will their masters take ownership or responsibility of the child when born; instead, they children only increase the number of slaves and hands to work in the field which is to the advantage of the slave masters. Also, the mistresses transfer their anger and aggression for their husband's infidelity to the abused slave woman by beating and maltreating them. Some fo them are forced into marriages without being elevated to the normal position of a wife. Rather, in order for her husband to avoid witnessing when they are punished or tortured for one offense or another, he'll send her to a distant plantation where she'll continue her slavery practice.