The, The Travelers, By Brother Ali

The act of violence also contributes to the dehumanization and the “breaking down” of the slaves. Slaves were beaten, and whipped daily, subjected to cruel torture. Northup describes these acts of violence in his narrative very vividly.

Why was Cruelty to the slaves' so popular?” Slaves face it every day of their lives, whether they deserve the punishment or not. The slaveholders find satisfaction in beating and whipping the slaves. Slavery abuse was very common in this time period. Cruelty was one of the biggest factors in the book “Narrative Of The Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave”.

Slave punishment was bad in both plantations and cities, but the punishment of slaves was relatively less severe in cities. Slave owners on plantations treated their slaves terribly. “Such abusive owners might whip their slaves dozens of times, creating extensive blistering on their victims’ backs” (McNeese 78-79). This quote is one piece of evidence that detailed the horrors and brutality slaves had to face. Slaves were never safe from punishment, especially if their owners were known for being cruel to slaves. When Douglass lived on the plantation he witnessed many horrific events at a young age. Douglass explains how even the most minute offenses can cause severe punishment. If a slave ate a piece of fruit that they were not supposed to then they were whipped. If they did not brush the horses in a certain direction then they were punished. If they snuck off of the plantation to see someone they loved then they were punished. Any offense, no matter how small, had an extremely severe punishment. Slave owners were known for being brutal, and Douglass' owner was no exception to that rule. When Douglass was a young child, he witnessed his aunt get whipped by their owner.

As a young child, Frederick Douglass was introduced to the acts of violence towards the slaves including the all too common whippings. He says, “I have often been awakened at the down of day by the most heart-rendering shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood.” One could only imagine the horrid pictures that slaves would have seen on a daily basis of other slaves nearly being beaten to death by their masters. For the black children growing up on the plantation, the master was seen to be a man of great power and not to be taken lightly. This was exactly

Every person depending on their ranking or gender were given different punishments. The crimes that are visible in the laws are different compared to the crimes that would take place today . For example it says that if a builder fails to construct a house properly and the house fallss an kills its owner then the builder should be put to death. Again in law 200 we can see that if a man knocks out another mans ( equal ) teeth then the damage should be returned. Here we can see that damaging someone equal to you will give you the same consequences. The most common punishment among women at that time was either painful death or being cast into water. From what i can see there are’nt many laws that suggests that slaves would get a different kind of punishment if they commit a

Moreover, the treatment received by the slaves also differs in both Chesapeake Colonies and the Northern Colonies. Due to the high percentage of slaves resided in Virginia and Maryland, slave society was ranked the lowest in the hierocracy of freedom such that they were treated with violence and their access to freedom were restricted by the Whites (Foner 137). The slaves were also said to receive flogging by their owners on a daily basis. Such books that contained methods on improving the power of masters over their slaves were also exists in the eighteenth centuries (Foner 137). Thus, violence played a major role in the Chesapeake colonies’ institution of slavery. Contrarily, less or no violence applied by the Whites in treating their slaves

Slaves had never been treated as humans they were always beaten for ridiculous things. The first hand account of John Andrew Jackson an ex-slave shows how bad slaves really had it in his book The Experience of a Slave in South Carolina:

In the novel, Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler, the antebellum whites were able to control the black race by using methods of control, such as fear, sense of inferiority, and divide and conquer. For example, in chapter 3 it shows how a slave is whipped in front of other slaves, “The whipping served its purpose as far as I was concerned. It scared me, made me wonder how long it would be before I made a mistake that would give someone reason to whip me. Or had I already made that mistake?,” (92). As a general rule, when slaves witness other slaves being whipped, the slaves will most likely have a sense of fear which will cause them to not produce any trouble. It is also human nature to avoid all

During this time period the slaves were allowed to leave the plantations or homes but only to run errands for the masters. While in public the slaves were expected to behave, move out of the way of whites, and never strike a white person. This was present in the book The Inventions of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd because charlotte was a slave who was allowed to go the city for goods, she one day would not move out of the way and then struck a white women, this then lead to her being taken to the work house and being punished. (Kidd. The Invention of Wings, 2014) So not only were they not allowed to react in self-defense but they were also not allowed to be taught how to read or write. If a slave were to break any of these rules then depending on the offense and where it occurred was what determined the punishment. The punishments during this time could have been getting sent to the work house which is where they whip, and force slaves to work until they have served their time or they are at the mercy of their masters. (Kidd. The Invention of Wings, 2014)The masters can do whatever type of punishment they see fit for their slaves, and there was no laws protecting them. The only thing that protected these slaves was their value to the master’s wealth. Although in reality a lot of the slave owners were actually not hostile or

Plantation owners thought that this extreme discipline would make the slaves too scared to rebel. In South Carolina it was said that "a slave owner would put nails in a barrel sticking out on the inside of the barrel, then put the slave in and roll him/her down a very long and steep hill. Another punishment slave owners used was to whip their slaves. Other slave owners in Virginia smoked their slaves. This involved whipping them and putting them in a tobacco smokehouse".("life of a slave" thinkquest) Other punishments were getting beaten with various objects such as a chair, broom, tongs, shovel, shears, knife handles, the heavy end of a woman’s shoe, and an oak club.("life of a slave" thinkquest) Although slaves lived terrible lives, they found hope in religion. Many converted to Christianity which did not please many whites.

“There were severe punishments for a slave striking a white person, burning or attempting to burn

One of the most important descriptions involved the cruel treatment of the slaves in general because the Southerners thought the slaves as their own properties. From Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Tom met Prue who was a slave from down the street and felt miserable about her life because her master did not want to feed her baby resulting in the death of her baby. After few days later, Tom eventually heard that Prue’s master had whipped her to death by his members of the St. Clare household: “What now? Why those folks have whipped Prue to death!” said Ophelia (Stowe, 250). St. Clare explained that since the slaves were considered as one of the properties, people had the rights to control and destroy at their slaves at will: “It’s commonly supposed that the property interest

The physical cruelty portrayed to the Roman slaves also supports how they were treated as things, and not human beings. The beating and cruelty involved in slavery comes to no surprise when mentioning Ancient Rome. Slaves were of course punished for critical mistakes, but they were also punished to the highest degree for minor mistakes. For example, in a passage by Martial it says, “You say, Rufus, that your rabbit has not been cooked well, and you call for a whip. You prefer to cut up your cook, rather than your rabbit” . Here, a slave is whipped fiercely, simply because the rabbit was not cooked well enough. With this in mind, it is evident that slaves were mistreated even due to the slightest mistakes. Next, it is hard to believe that some slave owners performed methods of punishing their slaves in this matter. Pliny the Elder describes Vedius Pollio’s actions as, “He used to toss slaves sentenced to death into ponds of

In the United States, a new kind of slavery was introduced. In other countries in previous times, slavery would be practiced if people were taken as prisoners of war, or if they owed an extreme debt. However, in the United States, slavery was based off of the inferiority of one race to another. This type of slavery was race-based generational, meaning that it is not possible to work your way out of it. During the beginnings of slavery in the south, the slave codes were introduced. The slave codes were southern state laws that defined slavery as a legal institution. In these laws slaves were defined as property, not as people. This gave them no legal rights or protections. This type of slavery is also known as chattel slavery. The treatment of slaves was determined by their owners. Slave owners had to find ways to motivate them to work. Some slave owners turned to punishment and torture, while others would give them privileges and treat them well

On the other hand slaves legally could be whipped, starved, tortured, mutilated, or branded. The British took so many of the slaves’ freewill that the slaves could be forced to have children or to work eighteen hours a day. Slaves could be abused or murdered or sold at any time since they were regarded as a piece of property. In spite of the strict laws and punishments, slaves did rebel against this treatment. From the 1500s to the 1800s, there were more than 250 known slave revolts. The word “chattel” used to describe the slaves is derived from the Latin word “capitale” which means “property”. The slaves were like objects and were treated like objects. A scenario that could be related to the slave to master relationship is a man owning a chair. That man can destroy his chair as much as he wants because the chair is his. The Codes stated clearly that all slaves were under supreme rule of GOD followed by the King and their masters and his household.