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 jobs, movements, etc. Slavery has historically spanned almost every culture, nationality, and religion of the Antiquity times existed up to the present day. The ancient Greeks, Romans, British, Portuguese, Spanish, Incas, Aztecs, etc. were all involved in the slave trade in one form or another.
The slave trade is one of the social phenomena in history associated with the most cruel and dehumanizing treatment. Since the enslaved humans are nothing more than possessions in the care of their masters, they are treated in the most bizarre of ways, devoid of human consideration. Here are the 10 most cruel ways slaves were punished by their master – they are truly heartbreaking!
8. Shackles
The use of shackles and handcuffs in slave markets has always been one of the most shocking aspects of slavery in history. Slave shackles were widespread and were used to shackle slaves either by the wrists, ankles or neck as early as the 15th century. This particular artifact was recorded to have been made from wrought iron between 1780 and 1804. This artifact was used to shackle a slave’s wrists and, depending on the situation, ankles when transporting a slave. The use of shackles to enslave Africans was widespread until the 1860s. On slave ships, the slaves were boarded hard and packed one on top of the other in a confined space and held in place by shackles—unable to move or breathe.
Made of heavy iron, these shackles were not only used as a means of keeping slaves grounded, but it was also a way of humiliating defiant slaves who tried to escape. Such use of shackles served as an effective way for plantation owners to physically and psychologically control their slaves. These restraint systems used for slaves were similar to those used for prisoners at the time, leading to the conclusion that slaves were nothing better than criminals.
7. Branding
Branding irons were sometimes used to mark all captives, routinely used during the slave trade for identification or punishment purposes, more commonly used to seek out runaway slaves to ensure their return should they escape again. The body part to be marked varies in terms of position, e.g. B. palm, back, shoulder, buttocks or stomach, with the face being a preferred place for punishment and determined by the slave master.
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6. Brutal flogging
The main method of controlling the behavior of slaves was the threat of flogging. The spanking and spanking were usually as horrific and as bad as could be imagined. The number of lashes, which were always numerous, depended on the severity of the offense. Slaves were flogged daily; it is not necessary that they committed a serious crime, rather beatings, beatings and other acts of torture were a form of physical and mental control; a way to reassert their masters’ dominance and also to demoralize the slaves and focus them on their work. No condition makes an exception for any slave: the young, old, male, female, including pregnant women, were whipped whenever the occasion called for it. In the case of pregnancy, a hole can be dug for the pregnant woman to put her belly in while spanking. Whipping became so common during slavery that it became a business that consisted of hard-headed, commercial, and professional whippers to whom offending slaves were sent to receive as many beatings as directed by their owners.
5. Rub pepper, salt or other hard substances on wounds
As punishment, a slave is whipped with such inhuman severity as to tear and lacerate his or her flesh in the most shocking manner, leaving permanent scars and ridges; then injurious substances such as pickled cucumber, lime juice, hot brine, turpentine, or bird’s pepper would be rubbed into his open wounds. Sometimes the slave is tied hand and foot in order to “enjoy” the pain to the fullest and not to relieve himself in any way.
4. Instruments of torture
The instruments of torture come in various shapes and degrees of severity. They are used to punish slaves by subjecting them to very uncomfortable and brutal conditions. Some of them are worn out while others are constructed and the slave is constrained by the instrument to a specific position set by the killer. When the slave is carried, he is forced to continue his daily work with the awkward instrument, and is also expected to work with the same speed and productivity as when in the free state. He may also be given a task that they know will be very difficult to accomplish with the instrument of torture intact.
A black slave once related how he was tortured in this way with his neck tightly encased by an iron band, an instrument of such a peculiar shape that it is difficult to perform its work. The negro stated that he wore it for a good two months! The shape of the instrument prevented him from lying down and resting at night; Its weight and tight fit made it very taxing during the day. It consisted of a heavy iron ring that fitted snugly around the neck and from which extended three prongs, each two feet long, with a ring at the end. Too terrible!
3. Sexual Assault
A certain group of enslaved women were labeled “Jezebels” by their owners. These women were said to have been more promiscuous than their counterparts and were often sexually abused multiple times throughout the day. While white men forced these “Jezebels” to have sex with them, they claimed it was the enslaved woman’s fault for being so loose. Although female slaves suffer the most, men are also sometimes sexually abused by promiscuous mistresses or forced to have sex with other slaves in order to father children who work for their masters. Slaves are raped without anyone having to report it. Instead, the white slave owners expect to be grateful for having sex with them and proudly say they are “doing them a favor”.
On several occasions they may be impregnated, and this in no way relieves them of their normal daily routine and punishment as slaves, and their masters assume neither ownership nor responsibility for the child at birth. Instead, the children only increase the number of slaves and hands to work in the field, to the benefit of the slave masters. Also, the Mistresses transfer their anger and aggression for her husband’s infidelity to the abused slave by hitting and mistreating her.Some of them will be raised to the normal position of women without being forced into marriages. To avoid seeing witnesses when they are punished or tortured for one crime or another, her husband sends her to a remote plantation where she continues her slavery.
2. Mutilation – amputation, genital torture, castration…
Slave punishment is as extreme as cutting off some of the slave’s body parts such as limbs, fingers, palm, ears, genitals, etc. were often used as a punishment and deterrent for sexual offenses. But the gruesome cruelty of this is that most of the time the slaves have been wrongly accused. Also, castration is often performed in the most animalistic manner (using gelding knives or local burdizzo) and no medical care is provided. The women can be subjected to severe torture, which ultimately results in complete damage to the genitals. Most victims of this form of torture barely survive due to the severity. I find this act of punishment one of the most bleak and heartbreaking!
1. Cruel Executions – Lynching, Burning…
Most executions are by hanging. If they want to make it more cruel, they can hang the person alive with a hook in one of his lungs. You can also decide to hang the slave upside down.
Also, in what the slave masters call very serious crimes, which they believe to have surpassed all other forms of punishment and require the slave to be disposed of in the most bizarre of ways, the slave is burned alive, usually on a stake basis. This is the cruellest way imaginable to die!